Dead in Flames
by misswhiteblack
Summary: Something about her scared me right out of my pants ... There's a stranger in Merlotte's.
1. I Can be as Angry as I Want to be

**Dead in Flames  
**I can be as angry as i want to be  
just watch me burn  
i think you're way too cold  
just watch and learn  
_- Like you better dead, In Flames_

**.**

Alarm bells started ringing the moment she walked into the bar. I don't know quite what gave me cause for concern. She wasn't dressed in anything more offensive than a pair of low slung jeans and a deep green t-shirt but something about her scared me right out of my pants. She wasn't beautiful in that pretty kind of way that women often are but she was certainly striking and, as I was caught off guard, I could hear lust filling the minds of the men in the bar who had also noticed her. Her hair was a mass of wild vibrant red curls that tumbled down to her shoulders setting off the creamy, flawless skin of her face. Her cheekbones were almost impossibly high and seemed to slant her dark green eyes. Something about her just screamed Dangerous!

With my history it's quite understandable that I am wary of any strangers that passed through Merlotte's, especially unannounced strangers. My eyes followed the girl ... woman ... her as she took a seat in the last booth of my section. That worried me more and I decided to take a dip inside her mind to see what was lurking around there. I opened my mind directing my concentration towards the girl whose eyes were now sweeping the menu and felt my mind recoil at the fire wall in my way. I can read most humans quite easily, although telepathy is hardly an exact science. Weres are harder to read and I tended to pick up feelings and intents rather than lines of thought. Vampire minds were blank to me and faeries were almost as blank. If I had needed any more confirmation that this girl ... woman ... being wasn't human then the blazing red blankness of her mind decided it for me.

I glanced around at the patrons of the bar. Some of the men present were still taking sly glances over to where the girl was sitting even some of the women were looking over her curiously. Sam, my boss and a rare true shapeshifter, emerged from his office to serve at the bar. I caught his eye and jerked my head in the direction of the stranger. His eyes glanced over her and I watched a frown crease in his brow. He shrugged just as puzzled as I was. There was no help for it and I decided to approach her.

"What can I get you?" I asked her brightly, my nervous, manic grin stretched out across her face.

I felt as though I was standing in the firing line of laser beams when she turned her head to look up at me. Her eyes were the darkest green I had ever seen on a person, like the colour of the moss in woods at the back of my home. It was all I could do not to turn away at once and make my way back to the bar. She made me even more nervous by just looking at me for a moment. Surely she couldn't be someone else wanting to use me or harm me.

"Sure, I'll have the chicken strips," she said brightly in an accent that could have belonged to anyone in town, "and a Jack Daniels with coke."

I couldn't manage to reply in my nervous state so I just smiled widely as I took the menu from her and retreated to the bar. I had never seen this girl before in my life but she sounded as though she could have been my next door neighbour, if I had any neighbours. Her accent certainly hadn't been something I had been anticipating. That and the only people I had seen as pale as her in this neck of the woods were vampires. I was officially freaked out.

"What's wrong, Sookie?" asked Sam when I returned to the bar to put in her order.

"What is she?" I asked Sam sliding my eyes to the left to indicate the girl I had left.

"She's not human?" Sam asked. I could tell that he hadn't really thought she was but he was looking to me for confirmation.

I frowned.

"I can't read her at all," I whispered leaning into him. "Her mind is like a wall of fire. I can't even get any sense of it."

Sam seemed to grit his teeth as he watched the girl over my shoulder. I could see the way his muscles shudder with tension as he weighed up the options of why she might be present in his bar. His eyes flickered back to me.

"What could she want?" he asked me.

"A spy?" I suggested. "That FBI agent Lattesta might have put an outside source on me."

"Why would a supe do something for the FBI?" Sam asked.

I frowned now stumped. I had no idea why any supe would do something as menial as keeping as eye on me for the FBI.

"It could be ..." I began hesitantly, unhappy with the idea that I was about to present. "Victor might have sent someone other than a vampire to ... you know ... take care of me."

Sam's face moulded into the picture of rage as my suggestion sunk in. He glared at the red haired girl ... woman ... thing over my shoulder and he seemed to tremble slightly. I put my hand on his shoulder trying to calm him.

"We can't be sure," I murmured.

"Phone Eric," he hissed back. "You shouldn't have to take the risk."

I nodded as I finished pouring the coke into the glass holding a shot of Jack Daniels. I assured Sam that I would phone Eric as soon as I had given the girl her drink and checked on my tables. I nervously approached the girl once more and set the glass down in front of her. She glanced around at me from where she had been staring out of the window. There was a slight crease in her brow but she smiled brightly at me.

"Thank you," she said and took a sip of her drink as she turned to look out of the window once more.

As I checked on my other tables I tried to decide what made me so uncomfortable around her. Apart from when I took her order she had shown no interest in me whatsoever. Maybe I was just getting paranoid but then given my track record it was maybe best to be paranoid. I sneaked a quick peek over my shoulder at her as I walked back to the bar where the phone was. She was still looking out of the window.

I grabbed the phone down from the wall exchanging a quick glance with Sam. I tapped in the number for Fangtasia not bothering to go and get my cell phone from my bag so I could call Eric directly.

"Fangtasia, the bar with a bite," Pam's bored voice came over the receiver.

"Pam," I said softly hoping that the supe (if she was a supe) couldn't hear me.

"Sookie," Pam's voice immediately brightened. "Who's my favourite breather?"

"I am," I told her with a little smile whilst I rolled my eyes. "Listen could I speak to Eric please?"

"What's wrong?" she asked me immediately. My tone had been more obvious than I had thought.

"Can you just get him for me please, Pam?"

There was silence and I assumed Pam was carrying the phone to wherever Eric was sitting in the bar.

"I am here," Eric's cool voice came over the phone and just hearing his voice made me feel a lot better.

"It's Sookie," I told him softly. "Listen, there's a supe here in the bar and I have never seen anything like her, let alone seen her before."

"What about your little talent?" he asked me in a lazy tone as though I hadn't been smart enough to think about that myself but I was too scared to be annoyed at him.

"I can't read her at all," I said glancing back at the booth where the girl sat. "It's like running into a brick wall. It quite literally bounced me back."

"That is unusual. What are you afraid of?"

"Well, I was thinking that maybe Victor ..."

"Don't move."

Where exactly am I going to go, I wondered as the line went dead and I hung the phone back up. I turned round expecting to see Sam and the girl was standing at the bar her empty glass in her hand. I jumped noticeably and I saw her eyebrow twitch upwards in her confusion but the next second her expression was nothing but pleasant.

"Could I get another one please?" she asked me with the same bright smile.

"Sure," I said obligingly willing my hand not to shake as I took her glass off the top of the bar and began to refill it for her. I could feel her eyes on me as I pour the Jack Daniels into the glass and then turned to add the coke. She wasn't even looking at me when I turned round and instead was staring at where Sam was talking to Jane Bodehouse at the other end of the bar.

When I placed her drink on the bar she switched her intense gaze back to me and picked it up with a smile before she turned to head back to her table. I heaved a quiet sigh of relief for the moment, hoping that Eric would arrive soon. I didn't think I could stand the tension much longer.

Eric must have flown because he was there sooner than I had expected. The girl was sitting in the corner still eating her chicken strips that Sam had gallantly taken over for me whilst I served another table. I was behind the bar pouring Jane Bodehouse another gin and tonic when Eric arrived. I immediately felt relieved as he strode in through the door his eyes alert, sweeping the room before they came to rest on him. He was by my side in an instant.

"Are you all right?" he asked concerned his blue eyes looking down at me intently. I nodded in reply folding myself into his chest. I felt so much better as he wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly to him.

"Where?" he said softly into my ear.

"Back, right hand corner," I told him my eyes flickering over to where the girl had not seemed to have noted Eric's presence in the bar. She was still looking out the window and for the first time I noticed the apprehensive look on her face. In a movement that almost seemed synchronised Eric turned round to look for her as she turned her head to look around the bar. They caught sight of each other at the same time.

I felt suspended in disbelief for a few moments as I watched surprise sweep the girl's face as relief rolled through the bond from Eric. The girl got to her feet her face breaking into a genuine smile which made the ones she had given me seem obviously false. She was stunning when she smiled which made me feel disgruntled.

"Eric," she exclaimed and I was so glad that it was not a busy night because she then ran across the bar and flung herself on Eric who, to my stunned surprise, gave her a very brief hug and then shoved her off.

"Phoenix, you should know better than to jump on me when you are that hot," he told her in a firm but affectionate tone. I frowned at Eric's back and then stepped out to the side to look at the girl who was grinning widely up at Eric.

"Sorry, Eric," she told him shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. "You caught me off guard."

I glanced up at Eric who was eyeing her with a smirk on his face.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her sharply.

She frowned at him and I was well aware of the bar patrons looking on with curious expressions. Even Sam was craning his head around the bar to get a look at the three of us standing by the side of the bar.

"Not here," I whispered and jerked my head to indicate that we should go out to the back.

"Phoenix," Eric addressed the girl, "come."

Eric and the girl, Phoenix, followed me through to Sam's office. I stood aside to let Eric entered the room first with the girl right behind him. I joined them in the office closing the door behind me.

"What do you mean what am I doing here?" Phoenix asked him as soon as the door was closed barely sparing me a glance. "I'm having something to eat. What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to protect Sookie," Eric told her with a sweep of his fingers to indicate me standing beside him. Her eyes swept me quickly before she glanced at the door and the window with surprising speed.

"From what?" she asked a frown creasing her brow and I could see her hands clenching and unclenching rapidly.

"From you."

That surprised her and the frown was swept from her face to be replaced by a look of complete surprise. She glanced at me again as though just registering her presence before she looked back at Eric.

"I am no threat," she assured him formally.

"Of course, you are not," he replied equally formal. "I had not known it was you. Where is Lorc? Why are you here in my area?"

"Your area ..."

Finally, I had had enough of watching them like a tennis match.

"Hey," I said firmly interrupting, "are we remembering me over here?"

Both Eric and the girl, Phoenix, looked round at me almost as though they had completely forgotten about my presence in the room, or rather, forgotten that I could speak.

"Sookie, this is Phoenix Celtman," Eric introduced the wild girl before me. "Phoenix, this is my wife, Sookie Stackhouse."

I ignored the bit about me being his wife for the moment preferring to focus on the way he had pronounced her surname: Keltmin. I swept her from head to toe. She was slightly taller than me and she was looking at me expectantly.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," she told me sincerely. "I am gathering you are not just an average human."

I was startled by that and the feeling shone as plain as day on my face. I saw Phoenix take a sly glance at Eric and I felt a lump of ice form in the pit of my stomach. Without my talent to my advantage I felt uncomfortable standing with Phoenix and Eric who obviously knew each other well but in what capacity I didn't know.

"What do you mean?" I asked trying hard to keep the wavering out of my voice.

Phoenix slid a look at Eric and he glared back at her.

"She means that I do not form attachments with mere humans," Eric told me taking my hand in his.

I knew what he meant. I wasn't just human but the icy feeling in my stomach seemed to intensify. I was uneasy. How did Eric know this dangerous looking girl? What was she? Hanging around with vampires had made me slightly more used to the suspense of not knowing other peoples thoughts but, not for the first time, I found myself wishing I could read what was going on in Eric's head.

"Where is Lorcan?" Eric asked Phoenix sharply as he turned to look at her once again.

Her eyes blazed for a moment her hands clenching into fists and Eric immediately grabbed me, pulling me back a step. My breath caught in my throat as I felt the fear roll through Eric and I watched Phoenix as she closed her eyes. I'd seen the expression on her face before. She was fighting for control. If I had been scared before it was nothing to the fear I felt now. What on earth could scare a vampire as strong as Eric?

"Phoenix," Eric said her name warily but he fell silent when I gripped him tightly.

The girl's eyes snapped open and for a moment they looked like flames but then her shoulders relaxed and her fists unclenched. She looked at us her green eyes now calm.

"I am in control," she told us her voice formal once again.

I relaxed my grip of Eric's shoulder allowing Eric to straighten up from his protective stance. His eyes were still wary as he looked Phoenix.

"Where is Lorcan?" he asked once more but now his tone was a lot softer.

My nails dug into the black material of his t-shirt waiting for the same reaction but in contrast Phoenix looked positively glacial at the question. I didn't think she was angry with Eric however.

"He's in New Orleans," she told us quietly, "with Victor Madden."

* * *

_First ever Sookie Stackhouse fic. Part one._


	2. Feel it Coming in the Air

**Feel it coming in the air  
**and the screams from everywhere  
i'm addicted to the thrill  
it's a dangerous love affair  
_- Run this town, Jay-Z_

**.**

We stared at her. I had no idea who this Lorcan was but anything involving Victor hardly qualified as innocent in my book. Not that anyone could blame me since Victor had already tried to kill me before. I couldn't imagine that he had simply decided to give up his goal after his last failure. I thought that would have reinforced his ambition. He wanted Eric out of way and he certainly didn't want him to have any advantage over him. That included me.

"I am assuming from your irritation," Eric said eventually in a voice that was a lot calmer than he felt, "that it is not a social call."

Somewhere in the back of my mind I registered that the word irritation fell far short of the emotional response that Phoenix had given to Eric's question. Pure burning fury would have been the more accurate description. It was hardly the time to mention the observation though.

"It was supposed to be," Phoenix hissed in answer.

Eric frowned.

"Drop the accent," he commanded far too ruffled to be courteous.

I watched her eyes flash but I couldn't decide whether it was from anger or surprise at Eric's tone.

"What do you mean "supposed to be"?" Eric probed his voice now throttled down to a gentle tone.

"He was only supposed to be announcing his presence in New Orleans," she explained and my legs nearly gave way in surprise. It wasn't what she had said but the now pure British accent with which she had said it. Her Northern Louisiana accent that she had previously adopted had been flawless. I had not picked up any trace of a British accent.

"When was that?" Eric asked his hand tightening around my elbow. It took me a moment to realise that he was supporting me because I had actually wobbled a little in my surprise.

"Three days ago."

There was a loud rap on the door which made me jump and I turned round as the door opened. Sam stuck his head into the room, his red gold hair a halo around his face. His eyes flickered over Eric and Phoenix clearly intrigued and confused at the same time.

"Are you-all done in here?" Sam asked. "I'd like to have Sookie back."

Eric glared at Sam for a moment and I saw Phoenix move into my peripheral vision. She was looking at Sam like she had earlier, with a smile curving her mouth at the corner. I did not understand the expression on her face and I didn't know why she was so interested in Sam. She seemed almost bemused by him, like she knew exactly what he was but couldn't figure out how it worked. Had she never seen a were before or was it maybe that she had never met a true shape shifter before?

"Sookie, I'll take Phoenix to Fangtasia," Eric told me. "When you finish your shift come straight over."

I shook my head.

"No," I said unsure exactly why I was wary about letting the two of them out of my sight. I suppose I couldn't stand having to wait for an explanation as to why Phoenix was in Merlotte's and why this Lorcan was with Victor in New Orleans. I didn't want to have to wait to ask my questions and hear the answers about what on earth she was. I didn't want her to be alone with Eric at all. Not when Eric seemed scared of her and certainly not when I thought they had a history together. Eric, Phoenix and Sam were all looking at me with confusion.

"You do not want to come?" asked Eric raising his eyebrow when he looked at me.

"I do," I told him, "but either you two wait in the bar for me or I come along now."

Eric frowned slightly and then turned to encompass both Sam and Phoenix in a look.

"Could you two excuse us for a moment?" he requested of them. Sam and Phoenix exchanged a look and then Phoenix followed Sam out of the door. When the door had closed behind them Eric gave me a calculating look. I matched his looked with a determined glare.

"What is it, Sookie?"

"I don't want you two to go off and have your little discussion before I get there so then you can keep things from me," I told him honestly. "I don't trust her. What on earth is she and why is she here? She could be working for Victor or anything and you're just going to let her get you alone."

"Phoenix isn't about to do anything to me," Eric assured me. "She's not like that at all."

"Look at all the other people we have trusted," I retorted determined that he'd take me seriously. "Long Shadow, Hugo Ayres, Charles Twinning, Jake Purifoy. We thought we could trust them, we thought we knew them but they all stabbed us in the back."

Eric considered me quietly for a moment. I could tell he was evaluating what I was saying working out whether what I was warning him about could be possible.

"Sookie, trust me, Phoenix will not betray me," he tried to reassure me again, "least of all to someone like Victor Madden and if she was working for Victor she would not have stopped to have this friendly chat. We would already be dead, all of us, you, me, Sam and everyone in the bar."

"But if she was here for help then why didn't she just stop in Shreveport and check in with you," I argued. "If she's so dangerous why didn't she just go and get this Lorcan back from Victor. Why is she even here?"

"Trust me, lover," he said softly grasping my hands in his, "these are questions that I will ask her. You need to believe me when I tell you that Phoenix will not harm me."

I stared sullenly down at his hands that were grasping mine. His skin was smooth and cold to the touch. I loved watching his hands, no matter whether they were writing, playing with his hair or making me achieve heights of pleasure that I had not known could exist. I gave myself a mental shake. I couldn't be thinking of things like that at a time like this.

"What is she?" I asked glancing up at him. He had a knowing smile on his face. He could tell what I was feeling when I looked at his hands. I glowered at him.

"I'll tell you on the way to Fangtasia. Will the shifter give you the rest of the shift off?"

I struggled with myself for a moment. I wanted to argue that he should tell me about Phoenix now but I knew from experience that arguing with Eric usually turned out the worst for me.

"What happened to calling him Sam?" I asked with a small smile.

Eric rolled his eyes not bothering to answer.

"I'll ask him."

I took my hands from his and walked purposefully over to the door. I opened it to find Sam and Phoenix standing in the hallway. Sam was leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. He had been watching Phoenix who had been pacing up and down the corridor until I had opened the door. They both looked at me expectantly.

"Sam," I addressed my boss, "can I have the rest of the night off?"

He looked at me for a moment concern written all over his face.

"Sure Sookie, if it's important," he said. "It's dead tonight and I can pitch in with Holly."

"Thanks Sam."

"Yes, thank you Shifter," Eric echoed me from where he was standing right behind me. "Phoenix, do you have a car?"

Phoenix's eyes snapped from me to Eric quicker than I had thought possible even when I had been hanging around with vamps.

"Yes," she replied briefly. "It's in the parking lot but I'd get there quicker if I went the usual way."

I had no idea what she meant by the "usual way" but I was as sure as hell that it wasn't flying the way Eric did.

"I'll drive Sookie's car down," Eric informed her firmly, "if you can follow us."

She nodded as I dived back into the office to retrieve my purse from the drawer of Sam's desk. Eric and Phoenix waited on me in the hallway. As I came back out I could see the doubtful look on Sam's face as his eyes passed over Eric and Phoenix. He was worried about me. He had the same evaluation of Phoenix as I had when I had first seen her. Everything about the wild looking girl screamed dangerous.

"Let's go," said Eric indicating the back door.

Phoenix headed out the door followed by Eric.

"Thanks again, Sam," I said with an apologetic smile as I headed towards the door.

"No problem Sookie," he responded out loud. _Be careful, Sook. I don't know what she is but I'm guessing she ain't no cookie._ I gave Sam a final smile as I went out the door to let him know that I had received his warning. It didn't make me feel better though.

Phoenix was already in her car revving up the engine. It was a Lincoln, a hire car more than likely. Eric was waiting for me in my car, sitting in the driver's seat. I was going to argue but given the frown on his face I decided that it maybe wasn't such a good idea. Instead I just opened the passenger side door and slid into the seat. I had barely got my seatbelt on and we were moving. I glanced backwards as we pulled out of the parking lot to see Phoenix following behind us. I sighed and glanced at Eric.

"So what is she?" I asked him.

Eric didn't bother to answer for a moment and he didn't even spare me a sideways glance. He concentrated on the road for a few minutes and I felt as though the tension in the car was mounting rapidly. I sighed. I couldn't just have a peaceful life.

"She's a Nativus," Eric said just when I thought he was going to ignore my question completely.

"What's that?" I asked a frown creasing my brow.

"She's an element," Eric explained further. "The word Nativus is Latin and the collective name for their race. It basically means element."

"She's a what?"

Eric sighed as if explaining it to me was some great burden.

"The elements are an ancient race that is split into four separate groups. Like the fae, they have a world that is separate to our own although there are a few that prefer to live in this world. It is named Aether, which was mistakenly believed in ancient times to be the fifth element. The four groups are the Ignis, the Lympha, the Aura and the Tellus. Each of the groups have abilities to create, influence and travel by the element with which they are gifted. The Ignis is fire, Lympha is water, Aura is air and Tellus is earth."

I looked at him in disbelief as he explained this all to me. Since vampires had "come out of the coffin" as the jokingly put it I had always believed that there were more supernatural beings that shared the earth with us. I had been proved right when I discovered shifters, weres and also the fae. I had wondered what else might come out of the woodwork the longer I associated with the supes. It seemed almost impossible to me and I am one of the most open minded people I know, no pun intended. Yet I couldn't deny that I knew that Phoenix was something different. I had seen the flames in her eyes for myself.

"So she's an Ignis," I concluded and Eric smiled at my quick grasp of his explanation.

"Yes," he told me. "She has the physical ability to create, manipulate and travel by means of fire."

"And when you asked about Lorcan her reaction made you, ah, concerned because you are highly flammable?" I queried. Nothing had scared me more than the fear that had rolled through our bond when Phoenix had been fighting for control.

"There is not much I can claim to be afraid of," Eric told me with a rueful smile, "but Phoenix isn't a normal Ignis. When I told you that if Phoenix wanted to harm us then it would already been done and not one person would be left I was understating things. If she had decided to harm you or me there wouldn't have been a shred of evidence left. Merlotte's would have disintegrated as would we have been."

He looked so matter of fact that it scared me right to the bone.

"A normal Ignis can be taken down by a group of us," he told me placing a hand on my knee which I thought was to reassure me, "and certainly the other elements are capable of doing one on one combat with an Ignis. Phoenix is a supernova."

I had no idea what he was talking about and my bemusement must have shown clearly on my face because Eric smiled at me a little rubbing his hand over my knee briefly.

"What is a supernova?" I asked in a small voice hardly daring to hear the answer.

"The short answer is that she can burn hotter than the sun."

Oh boy. If there had been any brave parts left in my body then they quickly evacuated. How the hell were my vampires supposed to compete with something that powerful? How was the world to compete with something that powerful? She could kill everyone living on earth if she felt the need.

"Needless to say we vampires tend to stay far back from her," he explained. "She runs a constant temperature, hotter than a were and when angry or in danger her whole body in enveloped in flames, as though her skin is made of fire."

I thought maybe I was going to start hyperventilating. I suddenly felt far too warm in the car. I was sure I was going into emotional overload, my main emotion being fear. I scrambled for the button to let down the window, my breathing coming out in sharp ragged gasps.

"Sookie," Eric's voice said calmly and I felt his cool hands on either side of my face. He turned my head so I could look into his eyes. He was obviously attempting to send waves of calm through our bond to help me. I stared into him trying desperately to slowly down my breathing. He was talking to me in a soothing kind of way but the words were not from any language I recognised. I felt like a skittish horse being tamed by its master. My breathing started to come more easily now and I glanced out of the window to see that we were sitting at a set of traffic lights.

"You are better?" Eric asked me once my breathing evened out and I nodded. He took his hands from my face and glanced up at the lights. I focused on my knees for a moment trying to collect myself.

"Listen to me Sookie." I looked up at him. "You have nothing to be afraid of. Phoenix has extreme self control. You saw it for yourself?"

I nodded for a moment and then leaned back into my seat. There was a breeze coming in through the window and it felt good on my face that felt like it was burning. We pulled away from the lights when they changed and I concentrated on the white lines of the road shooting past as we drove on.

"Eric, what if she wants to get us to Fangtasia to kill us all?" I asked in a voice far too calm for the horrific thought. "What if Victor asked her to kill all of us, all those who are loyal to you?"

"Well, surely she would have wanted to Bill to join us too," Eric said and there was a touch of humour in his tone. I frowned at him.

"If she is so powerful then she could take care of Bill later," I persisted. "What if Victor is blackmailing her by holding this Lorcan?"

Eric turned sharp eyes to look at me.

"It is true that Phoenix is ruthless when it comes to protecting Lorcan," he said carefully his eyes now back on the road. "She would do anything for him."

"So then she could be working for Victor?"

My panic level was rising again and I fought against it harshly desperate not to become as incapacitated as I had been a few moments before.

"No," Eric answered shortly with complete certainty. "Lorcan would not want her to do anything to harm me ever and Phoenix will honour his wishes. She would never do anything to betray him. It would destroy her, I think if Lorcan thought any less of her than he does."

"Why does Lorcan like you so much?" I asked.

Eric smiled and for some reason it aroused me a little to see it. I was a little disgusted with myself. I needed to have better control over my impulses.

"I'll explain it to you when we get to Fangtasia."

I didn't argue and instead turned to look out of the window puzzling over what Eric had just told me. I glanced in the mirror to see Phoenix's Lincoln was still following us. I thought about this Lorcan who was currently in New Orleans with Victor a vampire I distrusted immensely. I had been betrayed too many times to just accept someone was innocent before I had been convinced. I was normally a very trusting person probably because of my ability to read other people's minds. I knew what was going on inside their heads. Hanging around with vampires had made me suspicious because they could deceive me and so could Phoenix. I wondered if I would be able to read any of the other Nativus.

"She must care for this Lorcan a lot," I wondered out loud and I saw Eric slip a glance at me.

"I would suppose," he responded as he turned left. "He is her husband."

"What is he?" I asked. "Is he a Nativus?"

Eric smiled seemingly to himself.

"No," he answered. "Lorcan is a testament to Phoenix's self control even when she should have abandoned it."

When I looked at him confused he continued,

"He's a vampire."


	3. I'm in Need of Some Restraint

**I'm in need of some restraint  
**pleased to meet you  
hope you guessed my name  
but what's puzzling you  
is the nature of my game  
_- Sympathy for the Devil, the Rolling Stones_

**.**

"He's a what?" I practically screamed in disbelief.

Eric grinned at my horrified expression. I could feel the way my jaw had dropped open in shock. I blinked a few times to adjust my eyes back to normal as I shut my mouth. My head was swimming with information and I could hardly believe what Eric had just told me. I found it difficult to keep my guard up during the act of sex and that's why I couldn't ever date a normal guy. How Phoenix managed to keep her self control whilst in the throes of pleasure was beyond me. I decided that the vampire Lorcan must have a death wish.

"He's a vampire," Eric repeated in a calm manner as though there was absolutely no problem with a fire creating girl having sex with a highly flammable vampire. Then again I was only making the assumption that they were having sex.

"Do they ... well ... you know?" I asked blushing a little at my question. After all, what kind of decent person enquired about whether a couple were having sex or not? I don't know why I assumed that Eric would know but possibly it was because of the vampiric lack of inhibitions especially when it came to sex.

"Well, I am not acquainted with their bedroom habits but they certainly have sex," Eric told me smirking at my embarrassment. "That is why I trust Phoenix's self control so much."

"How does she manage it?" I asked more to myself than to Eric.

"I am sure you could always ask her," he answered my rhetorical question.

I blushed again and glanced out of the window to see that were pulling into the car park of Fangtasia. Eric parked up by the employee's entrance and Phoenix's Lincoln pulled in beside him. I grabbed my purse and got out of the car in time to compare my exit from the vehicle to the graceful way that Phoenix got out of the Lincoln. I scowled a little as I shut the door and walked around the car to follow Eric and Phoenix toward the entrance.

"Welcome to Fangtasia, Phoenix," Eric was saying politely his hand resting on the door handle. "If I did not believe in your self control I would not have brought you here. This is my place. There will be several humans inside and several of the vampires living in my area, under my protection, will also be present. I do not want any accidents."

Phoenix stared at him for a moment before she inclined her head.

"Of course Eric," she told him. "I will be on my best behaviour."

Eric opened the door and ushered me in first. Phoenix followed closely behind me and I wasn't sure whether it was a trick of my mind but I could swear that I felt the heart of her radiating onto my back. It made me nervous to have my back to her.

I headed towards Eric's office which I thought would be the most logical place for this discussion to take place but I felt Phoenix stop behind me as we drew level with the door that led to the bar area. I turned to look at her and found she was looking at Eric with a question in her eyes.

"Is Pam here?" she asked and I was taken aback not for the first time that night. Phoenix knew Pam too. I wondered briefly why neither Eric nor Pam thought it would be prudent to warn me about other supes in the world.

"Yes," Eric replied. "She is on the door tonight."

"Well shall we sit in the bar then?"

Eric and I exchanged wary glances which Phoenix immediately picked up on. She placed her hands on her hips and looked between us. The expression on her face was like that of a child who felt as though its parents were keeping secrets.

"Eric," she said in a calm voice, "I will not harm anyone and I will not reveal myself to any of the humans in the bar. It's unlikely that anyone will overhear us in there."

I watched her as she said this and even without the help of my talent I could tell that she was speaking the truth. She had no intent to harm anyone in the club. This still didn't convince me that she was here for completely innocent reasons. I had been deceived before and I got the distinct impression that Phoenix could be conniving if she had the need.

Eric nodded in assent and Phoenix smiled in delight. She pushed open the door to the main area of the club and I followed her throwing a quick questioning glance at Eric as I passed him.

Fangtasia was on form tonight with it being a Saturday. Tourists dressed in the customary black were sitting at tables or on the stools at the bar warily looking around the club amazed by the other humans present. The fangbangers were grouped around tables dressed in ridiculously over the top costumes that they believed would appeal to the vampires. I had seen them all many times before but I still looked on in amazement at the fake fangs and the fake blood that they had used as part of their costumes. Amongst the humans the real vampires stood out like silver in a coal mine. I recognised a few of them. The tiny and eternally sullen Thalia was sitting with a male vampire named Gerald. They were both drinking bottles of True Blood. Heidi, the tracker and spy, was behind the bar. She caught my glance and gave me a little wave. Indira was smiling at a group of tourists to show them her fangs which were extended. The tourists had expressions that ranged from horror to delight.

"You've done well for yourself," Phoenix commented to Eric as he showed us to an empty booth. I watched her slide in on one side and then slid in on the opposite side making sure there was plenty of space for Eric to sit beside me. He took the offered space so he was facing Phoenix who had a view of the door. I glanced over my shoulder to have a look and I could see Pam at the door wearing her usual costume, a filmy black dress. When she wasn't working Pam favoured pastels.

"I take it the dress was your idea, Eric," Phoenix said eyeing the ensemble that Pam was wearing. She obviously knew Pam well enough to know that she didn't like to dress that way.

"The tourists like it," Eric said with a shrug of his great shoulder. "It's what they expect to see when they come to a vampire bar."

"I like the place," Phoenix assured him with a smile. "There isn't much like this in our neck of the wood but when we visit London there's a wonderful vampire club there called The Anne Rice Effect. Lorc and I loved going there. Weres seem to like it as well. Liz occasionally goes with us."

"A clever name for a vampire club," Eric said with a faint trace of admiration in his tone. "How is Liz?"

"She's well. She was going to come with us but her parents decided to descend upon her for a visit."

"Excuse me," I interrupted her as politely as I could. "Who is Liz?"

Phoenix did not seem offended by my interruption. In fact the opposite was true as though she had been waiting for me to ask her questions.

"Liz is our neighbour," Phoenix explained. "She's same the type of shifter as your boss."

I understood now why Phoenix had been looking at Sam the way she had been. True shapeshifters were rare and it was possible that she had never met another one before except from maybe this Liz's parents. I had only ever met one after all and that was Sam himself. I knew however that both of his parents had been true shapeshifters too.

"Phoenix," said Pam's voice and I looked up to see the female vampire standing by our table with a tray of drinks. She handed both me and Phoenix a large glass of Rosé each before giving Eric a bottle of True Blood. She even had one for herself which she placed on the table. Neither Phoenix nor I had seen her approach although Eric obviously had. I glanced at Phoenix to see her reaction. She had a wide smile on her face as she accepted the glass and once she had set it on the table she was on her feet. She enveloped Pam in a cuddle. I saw Pam wince before she pushed her back.

"Hello vampire here," Pam reminded her.

"Hello great self control here," Phoenix retorted cheekily making Pam's lips curve up into a smile.

"What are you doing here?" Pam asked her as Phoenix slipped back into her seat moving up slightly so Pam could sit down beside her.

"Phoenix is the reason I phoned earlier," I told Pam and I watched her eyes grow round as she turned her head to look at Phoenix.

"What were you doing in Merlotte's?"

I usually considered Pam's accent to be mostly American with just a hint of her old British accent but obviously being in the presence of someone who had a pure British accent was starting to affect her and that slight hint was coming through in her voice a lot stronger than usual.

"I was just about to enquire about that myself, Pam," Eric said in a cool voice which made me glance up at him. He had his hands clasped on the table in front of him and he was focusing on Phoenix with an icy stare as though he was daring her to try and lie to him.

"Maybe I should start at the beginning," Phoenix suggested a lot calmer than I would have been if Eric had been looking at me the way he was looking at her. Then again I didn't stand a chance against Eric the same way he didn't stand a chance against Phoenix.

"That would be logical."

Phoenix rolled her eyes at Eric's reply. She reminded me of Jason when he had been a teenager and Gran had told him off for doing something wrong. She looked young but I was willing to bet that she was nowhere near as young as she looked. I didn't think she was as old as Eric but maybe older than Pam. I wasn't nearly brave enough to ask her just yet and I didn't think Eric would be particularly happy if I started asking her questions about herself before he had heard the story of how she had come to be in Merlotte's tonight.

"Lorcan and I decided to take a holiday and Lorcan suggested that we visit New Orleans," she began. "I think he was curious about what damage had been done to the city due to Hurricane Katrina and he also mentioned that he thought the city could benefit from whatever tourism it could get. New Orleans also has a reputation of being a thriving vampire city. So, of course, we booked with Anubis Airlines to come over. If I had travelled by my usual means it would have been a lot quicker but I am unable to transport Lorcan with me."

"What do you mean by your "usual" means of travel?" I asked unable to quash my curiosity. Phoenix switched her intent green eyes to me and smiled.

"You have never met a Nativus before."

It wasn't a question but a statement of fact and I could hardly argue the point since what she said was true.

"As an Ignis," Phoenix explained, "I assumed Eric filled you in on the way here." I nodded. "Well, as an Ignis, I can travel by means of fire and since I am able to create it I can pretty much disappear into flames from anywhere in the world and reappear in flames somewhere else. I can also travel by means of any kind of fire."

She smiled when I looked impressed.

"What about the other Nativus?" I asked ignoring the looks that both Eric and Pam were giving me. It was okay for them, they already knew about the Nativus and what they could do but I certainly didn't. I knew Eric and Pam too well to believe they wouldn't try to keep things from me but Phoenix did not know me and I thought she wouldn't keep secrets from me to protect me.

"The Lympha travel by water in the same principle unless it is frozen. They can walk into the ocean and the reappear thousands of miles away from a puddle, provided that the puddle is big enough and vice versa. The Aura travel through the air. They are particularly interesting to watch in travel because they sort of fade into silvery wisps so as not to be seen and the Tellus use the earth. The Aura and the Tellus cannot travel as quickly as the Ignis or Lympha though. They cannot disappear in one spot and then reappear moments later somewhere else. They use part of the world in order to travel but we travel through the spaces in time. Do you understand?"

I frowned slightly not sure how to comprehend this but then I nodded, satisfied with her explanation.

"Can we get back to the explanation now?" Eric asked in what I would have referred to as a sulky tone.

I nodded and Phoenix launched back into her tale as though she had not broken away from it.

"When we arrived in New Orleans it wasn't long before we heard about the takeover by Nevada and that Sophie-Anne had now met the final death. Lorcan knows the rules and I stayed at the hotel whilst he went to announce his presence to Victor Madden who is representing Nevada in Louisiana. He did not come back that night nor did he return the following night. When the sun came up I decided I had to get out of New Orleans before I did something stupid and reckless so I hired a car and drove up state."

She looked between the three of us with defiance in her eyes as though she was willing us to try and challenge her story.

"What made you go into Merlotte's?" Pam asked her.

"Well, I had little to no idea where I was and I was hungry," Phoenix told her with a smile. "I couldn't resist Merlotte's. I could feel the presence of other supes there. I thought it would be the best place to stop for something to eat." Her gaze then switched to me rather suddenly. "I did not mean to give you any cause for alarm."

"Cause for alarm" was understating things a bit. I had been scared down to my wits when she had entered Merlotte's.

"Yes, well, I'm wary of announced supes coming anywhere near me," I told her honestly.

Phoenix looked at me curiously as though she wanted me to elaborate on my statement but I didn't bother. I still had plenty of questions that I wanted to ask her and I was sure that Eric certainly wasn't finished with his cross examination.

"Does Victor know that you came with Lorcan?" Eric asked her.

Phoenix shook her head her wild red curls flying around her face. The range of tones in her hair was amazing. It actually looked like a fire. It was a burnt orange the colour of flames with highlights of strawberry blonde twirling through it and although it was wild it did not look frizzy at all.

"No," she confirmed. "There was no need for anyone to know that I had accompanied him let alone know what I am."

"Lorcan is well known amongst our race though," Pam ventured. Phoenix seemed to consider her point.

"Lorcan is but our relationship is not," Phoenix said decisively. "Other than you two, there are only two other vampires who know of our relationship, Callahan and Soliel. They are Lorcan's children," she added for my benefit.

"Maybe he holds Lorcan because he has discovered that he lives with the gatekeepers," Eric suggested in a stiff voice and I could tell that this idea did not please him at all. It also raised another bunch of questions that I wanted to ask. Who were the gatekeepers? Where did the gate lead? Why did it have to have keepers at all?

"Not possible," Phoenix dismissed the idea. "No one apart from those of us who live with the gatekeepers knows where they are and the pact is signed in blood as well you know. There is no way he could have heard. All those who witness the gatekeepers have to sign."

"What are the gatekeepers?" I asked glancing around at my three companions. I felt extremely dumb in this conversation. I could hardly contribute anything as most of the time I didn't have a clue what they were all talking about.

Phoenix glanced at Eric.

"If I explain this to you, you will have to sign the pact in blood," she told me, "your own blood."

I recoiled at the thought immediately. The idea of having to sign any contract which required my blood to be part of the witness made me feel uneasy. I didn't really want to know what would happen to me if I broke the contract. I glanced sideways at Eric who was looking at Phoenix with a stony expression. Clearly he either didn't want me to sign the contract or he didn't want her to give me too much information. High handed as usual, always thinking he knew what was best for me. I have to say that he had more insight on this issue than I did and I should probably trust his judgement but that didn't mean I had to like him acting like that.

"Let me think about it," I requested of Phoenix who just inclined her head.

"Why didn't you come to me?" Eric asked Phoenix suddenly as though the thought had just popped into his head. "As you are not a vampire and you are not linked to us through any business venture of course you are not bound to check in with me but you could have come to me and explained to me about Lorcan."

Phoenix gave him an exasperated look as though she thought the answer was obvious.

"Eric we haven't seen you since before the Great Revelation. We didn't know where on earth you were. You could have been in Zimbabwe for all I knew. Lorcan was going to ask this Victor Madden if he had heard of your whereabouts. I just got in the car and drove north. I stopped in a motel when I was tired and then stopped at Merlotte's when I was hungry. All I was thinking about was how I was going to get Lorcan back."

She didn't sound angry only matter of fact but I could tell that she wasn't pleased by the situation she found herself in. I sensed that she felt helpless but I didn't understand why she should feel that way? I thought she was one of the most powerful beings on earth.

"What is stopping you from obliterating everyone in Victor's nest and taking Lorcan back?" I asked her confused enough to be blunt about it. She just looked at me for a few moments as though she was extremely surprise but also amused at the same time. In was a curious mix of expression on her face. I was pleased that I didn't blush under this scrutiny and nor did I drop my gaze from hers. I was beginning to feel more comfortable with her I supposed and, like Eric and Pam, although she scared the life out of me, I found that I actually quite liked her.

"Well, Sookie," she said using my name for the first time and I liked the way it sounded in her accent, "I could certainly just walk in there and set the whole place ablaze but I risk putting Lorcan in danger that way and there is no way that I am going to take that risk."

I have to say that I understood even if I was slightly disappointed. It would have solved a lot of our problems if Phoenix had burned the place to the ground.

"I was thinking, Eric," Pam said in a cautious voice, "if Victor is maybe, ah, persuading Lorcan to give him information on you or maybe he is hoping that he can turn Lorcan against you and use him to get you out of the way or maybe even discredit you. If Lorcan has been enquiring for your whereabouts then Victor is informed that you know each other."

I felt a lump of icy slide right through me to settle in my stomach just then and I glanced at Phoenix to see that a crease had formed in her brow. She was looking between Eric and Pam with a confused expression on her face. I didn't blame her for her confusion. It seemed to be going round tonight. I was confused about Phoenix, Eric was confused about her presence and Phoenix was confused about Victor.

"This Victor," Phoenix said gently her eyes darting between the three of us, "he is causing issues for you?"

That was a very delicate way to put it. Eric, Pam and I all exchanged glances.

"You could say that," I muttered as I picked up my wine glass and sipped at the still cool liquid in the glass. It felt so nice slipping down my throat.

"We believe Victor wants to get out from under Felipe De Castro's rule," Pam decided to explain it to Phoenix, "and we think he has got his eye on Area 5, this area which Eric is Sheriff of. We think that he will either try to kill Eric or to discredit him in some way but he will not openly challenge him. He is afraid of losing. However, we cannot be sure that Victor isn't following the orders of Felipe De Castro so if we move against him ... well, you see our predicament."

Pam's accent was now almost full British and it amused me slightly to hear it. She had a slightly different accent to Phoenix. Pam had lived in London in her human years. I wondered where Phoenix was from originally.

"Victor has been watching me," Eric told her his voice dropping a few octaves so I had to strain to hear him. "The vampire behind the bar, Heidi, was sent by Victor but I don't know whether she is spying on me for him or she is spying on him for Felipe De Castro. Not long ago when Pam and Sookie left my house they were stopped by Victor's second in command Bruno and another vampire named Corinna who attempted to kill them both."

Phoenix looked at Pam impressed and I felt slightly indignant that she had not thought I was capable of defending myself when someone was trying to kill me.

"Sookie took out Bruno herself," Pam told her quietly. "I only had to deal with Corinna."

Phoenix turned her impressed expression to me. I didn't like to be reminded of the people I had killed even if it was a vampire but for some reason I didn't feel as bad about Bruno as I did about Debbie Pelt, the were I had shot in self defence.

"So you're obviously are up shit creek without a paddle," summarised Phoenix with a good grasp of the vernacular. "You can't act against Victor in case he is under the direction of Felipe De Castro but if you don't do anything you could all wind up dead. I still don't see why would either of them want Sookie dead unless they were going to frame you for her murder?"

Eric looked at me and I could see the question in his eyes. He was actually asking my permission to tell Phoenix that I was a telepath. I didn't see how it could hurt to be honest.

"He doesn't want me to have any advantage over him," Eric declared. "Sookie is a great asset to me and as Pam is my second in command their loss would certainly weaken me."

Pam and I gave each other looks of triumph. We were the two most important people in Eric's life besides Eric himself.

"Not your average human then," Phoenix said to me with a satisfied smile on her face. "What are you Sookie?"

"I'm a telepath," I told her with a grin, "and one eighth fae."

It turned out I wasn't the only one getting surprises tonight.


	4. I Got Nothing for You to Gain

**I got nothing for you to gain  
**eyes on fire  
your spine is ablaze  
felling any foe with my gaze  
_- Eyes on fire, Blue Foundation_

**.**

I was slightly disappointed by Phoenix's reaction to my revelation. I watched her very careful when I told her what I was and the only reaction she had was that her eyed widened slightly and her mouth shaped into an "o". Other than that she seemed to take it right on the chin. She gave herself a shake and then looked at me with curiosity blatant in her eyes. I looked back at her feeling almost defiant as though I was determined to show her that I was stronger than I appeared to be. I watched her eyes flickered to Eric very quickly before they refocused on my face. She smiled.

"Well that must be interesting," she said carefully obviously choosing her words. "No wonder this Victor wants you gone. Indeed if I were Victor I would put all my efforts into making you disappear."

I shuddered at the difference in her tone. She was eyeing me very careful with distrust written across her face and I felt slightly indignant at the expression. She had no reason to distrust me unless she had something to hide and that worried me a little. Eric leaned across the table towards her and I glanced at him to see the intensity of his eyes. He didn't like Phoenix's last sentence any more than I had.

"She cannot read Vampires," Eric told her and Phoenix looked over me appraisingly as she absorbed this information.

"Sookie," she said her head tilting to one side as she looked at me, "can you read me?"

I was a little startled. It wasn't often that I was invited to read someone's thoughts. I mean sure sometimes I was invited the read the thoughts of someone who had been accused of doing something wrong but I was rarely invited by someone themselves. I looked into her eyes and saw no hint of a bluff there so I decided to try. I let my guard down and reach out for her mind. I touched the blazing flames of her mind before once again I was hurled out.

Being thrown back into your own mind is not a pleasant experience although I really couldn't describe how it feels. It was something I had never experienced before. I couldn't read Vampires but they left a blank hole in my consciousness and I could register brain patterns for the Fae and the part demons I could encountered. I could read intentions in Were's heads and humans were quite easy to read but never before had I been thrown out of someone's mind. I looked at Phoenix whose brow had creased into a frown.

"I can't read you at all," I told her honestly. "In fact your head will not allow me in for more than a few seconds and the whole time I am there it's just flames."

Phoenix seemed to consider that for a moment. I doubted that she had ever met a telepath before. I knew that Eric had met one before me and he had also met Barry but I was pretty sure that we were rare anomalies rather than part of a major supernatural group.

"I felt you," Phoenix told her tapping her fingers to her temple and that startled me a little. It wasn't that nobody had ever felt me in their heads before but the only two people that had felt me were two people I had actually been able to read, my cousin Hadley's son, Hunter and the were witch that had cursed Eric, Hallow. When I had practiced with Barry, the King of Texas' telepath, I hadn't felt anything when he had been reading my mind but Hunter had said he could feel me and I wondered whether it might be something I would have felt if someone had read my mind when I was young. I certainly hadn't thought that someone I couldn't read would be able to feel me probing around in their brain.

"You did?" I whispered through dry lips and I glanced briefly at Pam and Eric who were focused intently on Phoenix.

"Oh yes," she responded not taking her eyes from mine. "It sort of tickles although I am not sure if that is an accurate description. I wonder if ..."

_Sookie, is this working? I should think that it probably does. Sookie, can you hear me?_ I nearly jumped as the voice in my head started and I immediately recognised the British accent that belonged to Phoenix. I stared at her open mouthed. How did she know to do that? I was also puzzled by the fact that I had heard her when she was thinking directly at me when I couldn't hear her normally. Could they all do that?

"I heard you," I told Phoenix in awe. "I could hear you when you thought directly at me but I can't hear you normally. How did you know to try that?"

Phoenix shrugged her shoulders.

"I didn't," she explained. "I just thought it would be worth a try. Are you trying to tell me that none of your other supe friends have tried it?"

I glanced at Pam and Eric who looked rather taken aback. It was obvious that they had never thought about it themselves and I certainly hadn't thought to ask them to try it.

"Well shifters and Weres are the only ones that have tried," I told her, "but I can read their minds already. I didn't think about it when it came to vamps, demons and the fae."

Phoenix looked at Eric who looked almost adorable with his eyebrow hitched up in confusion.

"Try," she told him.

Eric looked blank for a moment but I heard nothing that I wasn't suppose to hear with my own two ears. Pam looked at me with her head tilted to one side like a curious puppy. I wasn't sure if either of them were trying but I couldn't hear either of them. _This could certainly come in mighty handy,_ Phoenix thought at me with a smile playing on her face. _I'll bet it's extremely irritating when you hear people all the time though._

I nodded to agree with Phoenix's thought and then look at Eric and Pam.

"Did you try?" I asked them.

"You couldn't hear me?" Eric asked sounding a little disappointed. I shook my head. I was kind of disappointed that it hadn't worked either but relieved all at the same time. It would have been great if Eric could have communicated with me without anyone knowing but I was also so physically aware of Eric all of the time that I might end up exhausted if I had to be mentally aware of him as well.

"I think you should be pleased that you didn't hear my thoughts," Pam told me pleasantly and when she smiled I caught sight of her fangs. I was exceptionally glad right then that I hadn't been able to communicate direct thoughts to me.

"I assume that is your talent that drew Eric's interest to begin with then Sookie," Phoenix questioned me and I have to admire the way she put it. The inclusion of the words "to begin with" gave the idea that Eric was no longer just interested in my talent and whilst it might have caught his attention it was not the reason he stayed with me. Phoenix was sly I had to give her that.

"I was dating another vampire who introduced us," I explained not particularly wanting to give her Bill's name. If she was here to kill us all then at least I had kept his name from the conversation and gave him the chance to live on.

"She was dating Bill Compton," Eric told her without glancing at me. Phoenix continued to watch me for a moment before her eyes flew over to Eric. She seemed surprised at this revelation.

"The Bill Compton?" she asked. "The vampire who has put together a sort of vampire directory?"

"The very same," Pam confirmed for her. "Did he contact Lorcan? I understand that he ask you several questions about Lorcan, Eric."

"Which I refused to answer," Eric responded looking grim. "I had no doubt that Lorcan would rather not appear in such a directory and I knew there would be no chance of Bill getting anywhere near him for an interview. I do not think Lorcan's whereabouts should be widely known either."

"It would put the gatekeepers at risk," Phoenix agreed with him. "We were certainly contacted by Mr Compton a couple of times but he didn't phone again after I, ah, persuaded him not to."

I didn't like the look on her face when she said the word persuaded and I didn't want to imagine what she had said to Bill to get him to stop calling this Lorcan. I was very curious about this vampire who was married to a woman who could burn him to a crisp in seconds, who had the respect of my very own vampire and who lived with some mystical group called the gatekeepers. I found it rather clear from the look in Phoenix's eyes when she spoke of him that she was in love with him. Eric had also told me that he thought it would destroy Phoenix if Lorcan thought any less of her. From what I had gleaned their relationship seemed extremely intense.

"How long have you and Lorcan been together?" I asked Phoenix on impulse. Phoenix looked startled as she looked up at me and then she looked thoughtful before she shrugged her shoulders. She glanced at Eric briefly.

"A couple of centuries?" Phoenix seemed to be asking Eric and he nodded.

"You don't know?" I said incredulous. Phoenix did not look abashed at all.

"Well, you tend to lose track of time when you're going to live forever," she told me completely nonchalant, "but I would say a couple of centuries. Trust me; if you spent around two hundred years married to Eric you would be forgetting exactly how long you've been together."

I determinedly avoided Eric's eye. I was uncomfortable about this topic of conversation. I had asked him never to change me but recently I had been wondering whether it would be for the best to have him make me a vamp. I suppose I was really conflicted. I loved Eric and I wanted to be with him but I really didn't want to be a vamp. I liked the sun too much for that.

"So you are really devoted to him?" I asked cautiously. "Eric mentioned to me that you were ruthlessly when it came to protecting Lorcan?"

Phoenix's eyes immediately narrowed and she glanced between me, Eric and Pam. Eric's hand shot out to grasp my arm and I knew he was cautioning me. His fangs were on display as were Pam's and I could see the wariness in Phoenix's eyes. I ran my eyes around the bar looking to see if anyone else had noticed how much then tension had shot up in our little booth. Nobody else seemed to be paying any attention to us.

"There is a question in there, Sookie," Phoenix said, "and I would prefer if you would just ask it outright rather than beat around the bush?"

"Sookie," Eric whispered in my ear in a low voice. His tone told me that he was concerned but I ignored him. I needed to do this in order to be comfortable. Without my talent to help me I would have to go mainly on instinct but I needed to ask the questions in order to gauge her reaction.

"Phoenix, are you here to kill us on the orders of Victor Madden?" I asked in a firm voice not allowing my voice to waiver for a moment. I saw Pam's eyebrow flicker up delicately and she was looking at me incredulously. She obviously thought the same as Eric, that Phoenix would never betray them.

"No, I am not," Phoenix replied calmly as though she were taking a lie detector test.

"Is Victor Madden blackmailing you into killing us by holding Lorcan?"

Her eyes did not waiver from mine. She did not blink and she did not glance away.

"No, he is not."

"Are you part of a trick on Victor's part trying to lure us to New Orleans so he may kill us himself?"

Eric's hand tightened on my arm a little bit more but I did not move my eyes from Phoenix's. I had to get these questions out and I needed to see her reaction to them. The fact that Eric and Pam were willing to take this girl at her word made me nervous.

"No, I am not."

"Is Lorcan likely to have turned against Eric?"

I saw the flames leap up in her eyes in her fury but she seemed to be able to reel her temper in. I heard a hiss escape from Eric's mouth in warning even though he knew he could not win in a fight against her.

"No," she answered me shortly obviously offended on Lorcan's behalf. "Lorcan would never betray Eric."

I glanced at Eric whose grip was almost painful on my arm. I wanted to be convinced. I wanted to be sure that we could trust her, that we could trust this vampire Lorcan. I knew vampires. They could appear one thing and be something completely different and I was not willing to be taken in again.

"Please excuse Sookie," Eric was apologising for me which was unusual but all too familiar at the same time. Unusual because Eric never apologised and familiar because it was the sort of highhanded thing that he would do.

"Eric, she doesn't need to be apologised for," Phoenix said with a smile looking over me appraisingly before she turned to look at Eric. "I'm not one of your Kings or Queens, I am your friend and if Sookie needs convincing of that then maybe we should convince her."

I was about to interrupt, I hated being talked about as though I was no present, when Phoenix looked at me once more.

"When you've been stabbed in the back once too often then you can't trust anyone," she said with feeling as though she too had experienced her fair share of betrayal.

"We've put our trust in the wrong people before," I told her by way of explanation. I didn't like to come over as a rude person and my Gran would have been horrified by the way I had just treated Phoenix. Still, after being betrayed to the Fellowship of the Sun by Hugo Ayres, tricked by Charles Twinning and caught in an explosion planned by the Fellowship of the Sun with inside help from Jake Purifoy I wasn't going to pretend that everything was all rosy in the garden.

"There are loads of things I don't understand about this whole thing," I continued and I wasn't just including Phoenix in this. I look at both Eric and Pam too. "You three and Lorcan seem to go way back and Eric you obviously trust them with your life. I suppose I want to know what makes you so sure that she isn't going to hand us over to Victor in return for getting Lorcan back."

Eric sighed as though some great burden was about to be shifted for his shoulders.

"Lorcan and I are related," he told me, "in the vampire sense. My maker and his maker are brothers; not human brothers but rather that they have the same maker."

I stared at Eric for a moment processing this information.

"So you're like cousins," I suggested after a moment.

"Yes, I suppose you could see it like that," Eric agreed. "Lorcan is quite a bit older than I but by how much we are not sure since I am not sure how old I am. When believe he might be about two hundred years older."

"I love an older man," Phoenix said with a grin and Pam butted her shoulder with hers very briefly.

"Not only this," Eric continued ignoring Phoenix, "but Pam and I stood alongside Lorcan and Phoenix in the last battle of the Nativus. We are bound in blood and war, all four of us. Do you understand?"

I nodded trying to take in what Eric was saying. I wasn't all that clued up on vampire relationships but when Eric was serious about a connection then obviously it was a serious connection. I felt better to know that Eric actually had a concrete reason to trust Lorcan and therefore Phoenix as an extension. I also knew what it was like to stand alongside someone and face your death head on. That forged bonds that would never be broken.

"So if Phoenix is Lorcan's wife," I began, "and I am your wife then that makes Phoenix and I cousins-in-law."

I saw Eric smile when I called myself his wife. It was the first time that I had done that but I had to admit that as long as it kept me safe I would call myself whatever he wanted me to be called. I didn't really think I was his wife, not in my eyes anyway. It had been a simple matter of me handing him a ceremonial knife and him accepting it, done completely without my knowledge might I add.

"I suppose it does," said Phoenix with a smile. "Well, I don't have any family so gaining any is always a bonus."

"How come you don't have any family?" I asked intrigued.

"It's a long story," Phoenix said with a sigh and she looked weary for the first time since I had met her, "and it has a lot to do with the history of our race. I would also need to swear you to secrecy. Let's leave it at I don't have any family apart from Lorcan. What about you?"

"I've only got my brother," I said and Eric snorted rolling his eyes. He didn't think much of Jason who even I had to admit was self-centred.

"Not much of a brother I take it," said Phoenix with a smile glancing at Eric.

"You could say that," Eric confirmed. "Although since Sookie's great-grandfather revealed himself to her she has a couple more family members."

"Yeah," I told Phoenix. "I've got my cousin Claude who is a full fairy and my great-uncle Dermot who is a half fairy and my granddad's twin brother. They're both living with me at the moment and using up all the hot water."

"Family is family eh?" she said with a grin. I smiled back at her because I felt a bit more at easy now that Eric had explained why he trusted her so much. I wouldn't say I trusted her completely but I trusted Eric.

Her words sunk into me them. Family is family and when it came to family you had to do everything you could for them. I glanced at Eric who was looking at Pam. They both had the fangs extended and there was determination in their eyes. I understood why Eric hadn't told be to begin with why he trusted Phoenix and Lorcan. He felt compelled to help Phoenix rescue his cousin from Victor's clutches because family always helps family.

"I suppose we'll have to organise a trip to New Orleans," Eric said at length.

"Nah Eric," she said shaking her head, "I can't be involving you lot when you've got problems already with this Victor."

I liked Phoenix even more for this statement but I was sure that Eric would not let it go. He was a very honourable vampire something that I admired and hated all at the same time.

"Look Phoenix," said Eric seriously, "Victor has probably taken Lorcan because of his connection to me and even if that isn't the case I can hardly leave Lorcan to put up with Victor's company. Pam and I will come down with you. I think we should try to pass you off as a friend of Sookie's or else Heidi might report your presence back to Victor."

"Eric," Phoenix said leaning forward, "I don't want anything to come back on you or Sookie. If Victor's got Lorcan so he can get to you then it seems a bit foolish for you to get involved."

I heartily agreed with Phoenix just then but Eric wasn't going to back down and we both knew it. Pam was looking a little excited about the idea. I just couldn't have a normal life for a couple of months. I knew without a doubt that I would go with them. There was no way I would be staying in Bon Temps to worry about Eric and Pam.

"No arguments Phoenix," Eric told her. "Pam and I cannot just let you go on your own. We'll come with you. If need be I will try and smooth things over with Felipe De Castro.

"Well if you come, Eric," Phoenix told him seriously, "then I'll kill Victor for you."

If anything could have got me on her side it was that.


	5. Behold the Heart of Mine in Flames

**Behold the heart of mine in flames  
**A top the highest mountain  
Below the darkest depths  
In the valley of hate I wander  
My frost bitten heart is set ablaze, set ablaze  
_-In Flames, In Flames_

**.**

As I stared at Phoenix I suddenly realised just how tired I was. I thought that the wine had exacerbated the feeling but there was no doubt that I would have loved to climb into bed, snuggle down and leave the world behind. I'd had more eventful days before but this evening with Phoenix and all her revelations had exhausted me. I looked at Eric and Pam to see how they were taking Phoenix's offer to dispatch Victor for us. Pam seemed eager to agree to the offer but Eric had a reserved expression across his face. I felt like I could almost read his mind when I saw that expression. Eric could see the wisdom in letting Phoenix handle Victor for us but he was disappointed that he would not get to take care of Victor himself. I ducked my head to hide a smile. I thought Phoenix's offer was a gift from god and that we should jump at the offer, anything to get out from under the oppressive Victor but Eric was proud of himself both as a man and as a protector. He also loved a good fight and the idea of relying on a girl, no matter how powerful she was, to take care of his problems insulted his manly pride.

Phoenix seemed able to read his expression as well.

"You know it makes sense," Phoenix said to Eric in a persuasive tone. "In fact it'd be better if none of you had anything to do with this. It'll put you all at risk if Felipe De Castro is still protecting Victor."

"I will not sit safe at home whilst you rescue Lorcan on your own," Eric growled, "and especially not when there is some risk to Lorcan. How are you to get him out of there? You can hardly burn the place to the ground without risk Lorcan's life?"

Phoenix smiled wickedly and I found myself feeling very apprehensive about that smile.

"I was thinking about offering my services in return for Lorcan's freedom," she said as she examined her nails briefly.

"What services?" I asked bewildered and my three companions looked at me like I was stupid. I had to be tired.

"I would offer Victor my abilities in order to secure your deaths," Phoenix elaborated gesturing around at Pam, Eric and myself. "The downside to that plan, however, is that he might ask me to complete the task before he lets Lorcan go and he would most definitely want Sookie's body as evidence."

I swallowed and felt heat flush my face. I felt Eric's hand close over mine where it rested on the table. I glanced up at him to see him smiling at me and my irrational fear melted away. There was no way I was going to have to pretend to be dead in front of Victor. It would be suicide and there was no way that I would be able to pull it off even if Eric was inclined to let me. I smiled back at him although I was sure my smile did not measure up to his fangy enthusiasm.

"We will go," Pam assured Phoenix resting a hand briefly on Phoenix's arm before she snatched it away as though it had been burned. I was curious about this reaction especially since this woman's lover was a vampire. How could he stand to have prolonged skin to skin contact if other vampires flinched at a mere two second touch?

"May I?" I asked Phoenix stretching my hand across the table to where her pale forearms were resting. She looked down at my hand with a puzzled expression but then she cottoned on to what I was asking and she put her hand within reach of mine. I wasn't quite sure what to expect but Eric and Pam's reaction had made me apprehensive. It was like touching someone with a fever except any human would already be dead before they'd even reached Phoenix's temperature. I didn't have to retract my fingers as quickly as Eric or Pam had. Her skin was smooth under my fingertips and I found it strange that it was so pale when she was so warm.

"I am not always so warm," Phoenix said almost as though she could read my mind.

Startled, I looked up at her.

"What?" I said confused as I snatched my hand away.

"I am not always so warm," she repeated. "I do not transmit so much heat when I am more in control of myself."

That worried me and I glanced around at Eric and Pam my panic obvious on my face.

"No, no, Sookie," Phoenix laughed reaching out across the table to grab my hand. "I'm not about to burst into flames. I have better self control than that but, even if I did not, it takes extremes in emotion to bring about that kind of reaction. I am more prone to losing control nowadays when I dream but worrying about Lorcan and being angry about his detainment has caused my temperature to rise slightly. Normally, vamps can touch me without a problem."

I nodded little feeling the heat of her hand in mine where we were clutching each other's fingers.

"Because you're so much warmer," I began as another question popped into my head, "do you find vamps a lot colder?"

Phoenix looked surprised by the question and it made me smile to see the way her eyebrows flew up, nearly disappearing into her hairline. I thought that maybe I was the only person who had ever asked her that question.

"Actually, I do not feel any change in temperature," she informed me and now it was my turn to look surprised.

"Nothing?" I enquired. "So, for example, there would be no point in putting ice in drink to cool it down for you?"

"No point at all," she said with a smile. "The only drink that is cool to me is the water from the Aether Falls but that, of course, is in Aether. It is a small price to pay to live in the human world. It just means I tend to stick drinks that are supposed to be warm such as red wine, tea or coffee but I also enjoy a good old vimto."

I looked at her puzzled. I had no idea what this vimto could be. I had never heard of it before. Maybe it was some kind of juice that the British were fond of. I considered Phoenix for a moment and I realised quite swiftly that I was fascinated by her. Vampires, werewolves, demons and fairies were all found in old myths or legends but I had never encountered any fairytale about a race of people who could control the elements. I was intrigued by her own world, Aether which I thought of in quite an opposing way to the way I viewed Faery, the land of the Fae. The world my great-grandfather lived in scared me but I didn't feel the same way about Aether but that could because I hadn't been in amongst a war of the Nativus with myself as the object for annihilation.

"So when shall we go?" Phoenix was asking Eric and Pam when I pulled myself back to the current conversation.

"I shall book space on Anubis Airlines tonight for tomorrow afternoon," Eric replied smoothly. "If we try to arrive as the light is dying that would be almost perfect."

"Bad idea," Pam countered swiftly causing Eric to glare at her but she continued. "Victor will surely be alerted to anyone travelling by Anubis Airlines. He would want to be aware if Felipe De Castro was about to descend on him for an inspection and he will be informed of our presence and that we bring a stranger with us."

I rubbed my nose which was suddenly itchy. I know it's a silly superstition but my gran always used to say that an itchy nose meant you were in for a fight. I kind of hoped that it wasn't true. I would prefer everything to be sly and underhand. We creep in, grab Lorcan, Phoenix burns Victor to a crisp, quietly, and then we scram. That would be my ideal scenario.

"How long would it take you to fly there, Eric?" Phoenix questioned a crease frowning between her eyebrows as she drew them together.

"Same as it would take in an airplane," Eric replied, "about half an hour."

"I suppose you would be exhausted doing that," Phoenix mentioned, "especially if you took Pam with you."

The crease in Phoenix's brow deepened and she lapsed into a thoughtful silence. I pondered the difficulty too. As much as I didn't particularly want to drive to New Orleans, I also did not want Victor alerted to the fact that we were coming for a visit with a stranger. He would put two and two together. A stranger in his grasp who knows Eric and stranger with Eric, it wasn't hard to make the connection.

"This would be so much easier if Lake was here," said Phoenix suddenly in an annoyed tone. I looked up at her briefly to see her chewing her nails. It was such a human thing to do that I was taken aback when I saw it. I could quite easily see why it would be difficult for your average person to realise that Phoenix wasn't human. She had all the mannerisms of one and she was completely up to date on the vernacular, unlike my vampires who occasionally got things wrong.

"Why is that?" I asked. "Who is Lake?"

Phoenix looked at me startled for a moment as if she'd forgotten that she was in the company of someone completely clueless.

"Lake is a Lympha," Phoenix told me with a grin. "He and Lorcan don't necessarily see eye to eye."

"That's not without good reason though," Eric interrupted darkly.

"You vamps," Phoenix laughed, "you're all so blooming possessive."

I knew exactly what she meant by that statement. I had never met a vampire that wasn't possessive over their possessions and they included humans amongst those possessions. When Nevada had been planning to take over Louisiana they had even sent someone to take a look at me as one of Eric's possessions.

"Tell me about it," I agreed rolling my eyes. "So why don't they see eye to eye?"

"Well, Lake is my ex-lover," Phoenix informed me briefly. "He's lovely but that's a different story. Lorcan doesn't like him because he's my ex and Lake doesn't like Lorc because he believes I shouldn't be with a vampire and I should stick within my own race."

"Eric's like that with Bill," I told her confidently and for the first time in a long time I had the "we're all girls together" feeling, "and Quinn and even Alcide who I didn't even date, really."

Phoenix smiled and Eric glared at me as though I was telling Phoenix far too many things that he was uncomfortable about but he said I could trust her so telling her things wasn't a problem. I think he was maybe embarrassed about the idea of us discussing him.

"So why would you want Lake here?" I decided to get back on topic.

"Because it would so much easier to have him transport both Pam and Eric to New Orleans by water means," Phoenix explained. "I can't do it because of their highly flammable nature but they could travel with Lake."

"Ah," I said which I didn't think was a very good response but it was about all I was capable of at the moment. I was getting even more tired by the minute.

"I certainly wouldn't mind Lake wrapping those big arms round me," Pam said in a fluttery sort of voice and a wicked smile across her face.

"I'll tell him," Phoenix offered. "Maybe if he sleeps with a vampire it'll get him off my case. I'll tell him it's a limited offer since you're more of a woman inclined kind of girl."

"You're a good girl, Phoenix," Pam said patting to top of Phoenix's wild hair and I was glad to see that it wasn't just me she was patronising towards. It surprised me though. Vampires are normally the utmost respectful unless they believe another supe is beneath them. Not only was Phoenix immensely more powerful but she was also older than Pam. Then again what is a little patronism between friends?

"Oh there's an idea," said Phoenix brightening suddenly and Eric seemed to be stirred out of his quiet, thoughtful mood in which he was staring into the distance. "If you two, Eric and Pam, get yourselves booked on a flight to New Orleans I could take Sookie my way and we could meet you at the airport. That way Victor will think only you two have come."

"That might work," said Eric looking at Phoenix with an interested expression.

I freaked out.

"What? Hello, human over here. I do not want to be burnt to a crisp."

Phoenix looked at me and rolled her eyes.

"I would not have suggested it if I was going to burn you to a crisp, Sookie," she said rolling her eyes. "You worry too much. I am perfectly capable of transporting humans with me without causing them any kind of physical injury."

She put me slightly more at ease then but I was still nervous about travelling by fire. After all, Phoenix was a supernova and she could burn hotter than the sun. What would happen to me if something went wrong when we were mid ... well, whatever she called it.

"I will book the flights tonight then," Eric said in manner that let me know that he thought everything had been well settled. I yawned audibly drawing the looks of the two vampires and the one Ignis that I was sitting with.

"Sorry," I said covering my mouth.

"Time for bed for the breather," chanted Pam cheerfully and I nodded in agreement. I was completely exhausted and was looking forward to going home and getting into my bed. I hope that Claude and Great-Uncle Dermot were either already asleep or staying at Claude's house. I couldn't be bothered with anyone.

"I think I should go home," I told them with an apologetic smile picking my purse up from the seat beside me. I turned to kiss Eric but found that he wasn't looking at me but instead was looking at Phoenix.

"Where are you going stay Phoenix?" he asked her.

I hadn't thought about that. I had assumed that Phoenix would be staying with either Eric or Pam or even at the club but then again that was a foolish thought. She could kill them in her sleep. Not only that but she was a night sleeper like me and we were supposed to be travelling to New Orleans tomorrow evening. Phoenix shrugged nonchalantly looking completely unconcerned about her sleeping arrangements.

"I'll probably just sleep in the car," she responded with a shrug of her shoulders.

I had been thinking just then that there was no way she could stay at my house but at her statement my heart melted.

"You can come and stay with me," I offered. "It's not much and if Claude and Dermot are home you might have to take the couch but you're certainly welcome."

Phoenix looked surprised by my generosity but then my reactions to her gifts all evening had hardly been a promising start of a trusting relationship between us so I couldn't blame her. She smiled at me widely tossing her wild red curls over her shoulder.

"I'd love to."

Eric and Pam stood up to let Phoenix and I slip out from our seats. As Phoenix gave Pam a brief hug goodbye Eric kissed me goodbye. I could feel his cool hands through my Merlotte's Bar & Grill t-shirt as they rested on my waist. He kissed me hungrily and I was sorry that we couldn't spend some more intimate time together that night but I was going to fall asleep if I didn't go home now. I was actually a little worried about driving myself.

"Goodnight lover," Eric murmured to me as we broke apart.

"Goodnight, Eric."

When I unravelled myself from Eric's arms Phoenix claimed him for a cuddle. I embraced Pam quickly and over her shoulder I could see Heidi looking at us curiously. With all the hugging I didn't think we were doing a very good job of convincing her that Phoenix was a friend of mine.

"You'll let us know when you're supposed to land?" Phoenix asked Eric as they pulled apart.

"Of course," he replied solemnly. "I will phone you once I have made the arrangements. Now on you go and drive safely. Phoenix if anyone tries to pull the two of over do not stop. If anyone attacks Sookie at home ..."

"Yes, yes, I'll incinerate them," Phoenix replied as though Eric was often giving her orders to incinerate people that might be attacking me.

We left then, Phoenix following me out the back door to the employee car park where both our cars were parked. I automatically went towards my little old car thinking that Phoenix would follow me in the Lincoln. So I was surprised when she followed me to my car.

"Do you want me to drive your car back to your house?" she asked me. "You look dead on your feet and we don't want you to have a crash."

I looked at her blankly for a moment.

"What about the Lincoln?" I asked.

Phoenix shrugged.

"It can sit here until we get back from New Orleans. I'll portus us here and I can drive you home."

That sounded like a decent plan so I dug my keys out of my purse and handed them to Phoenix. I then went round the car to the passenger side and got in. I belted up as Phoenix started the car and pulled away from the car park without any problems. I had to direct Phoenix onto the main road between Shreveport and Bon Temps but whilst we drove up it we sat in silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence more that I was too tired to make small talk and Phoenix just concentrated on the road. Considering she had an alternative, and lightning quick, way of travelling I was amused to discover that she was actually quite a good driver.

We came off at the Bon Temps exit eventually and I directed her through my home town up Humming Bird Road until we finally reached the turn off for my house. I live in the middle of nowhere. My closest neighbour, Bill Compton, lives on the other side of the town graveyard. Phoenix parked up in front of my house. Stackhouses have been living in it for about 150 years. I told her to go round the back and she obliged. The engine shuddered to a stop as she took the key from the ignition.

"This is it," I muttered sleepily.

Phoenix followed me into the house and I could tell that she was looking around at everything as I led her down the hallway and into the living room. She shuddered slightly and I could tell that she could sense the presence of other magical beings. I wondered whether those beings were actually in the house at the moment. I did a quick sweep for any brain patterns and found none except from Phoenix's flaming head.

"You're in luck," I told her with a grin. "Claude and Uncle Dermot aren't in so you can stay in there."

I pointed out the bedroom opposite mine which had once been my room. I now slept in my gran's old room. The bedroom in which Phoenix was going to sleep had a vampire hidey hole under the floor in the closet which Bill had installed when we had been a couple. It had been used by others now though including Eric, Charles Twinning (a vampire who tried to kill me), a random were and possibly Pam too.

Phoenix peeked into the room and nodded in agreement before she turned to me with a serious expression on her face.

"Look Sookie," she said, "if you are worried that I might burn down your house I will be perfectly happy to go and fetch my car and sleep outside in that."

I waved her down.

"No, no," I protested feeling awful that I had caused her to doubt me, "please stay here."

She smiled gratefully.

"Thanks Sookie," she said. "I haven't really slept since Lorcan was taken."

I gave her a sympathetic look. I understood how she felt. I had known that feeling when I thought that Bill was being held captive by Russell Edgington, the King of Mississippi. I supposed the difference was that Bill had gone away to betray me with his maker Lorena whereas Lorcan had actually been taken from Phoenix and they were clearly madly in love with each other.

"Look, I am exhausted," I told her honestly, "and I think tomorrow's going to be a long day and night so I'm just going to go to bed. I hope you don't mind."

Phoenix shook her head.

"Nope, I'm going to hit the hay myself."

"Goodnight Phoenix."

"Goodnight Sookie."

As she turned to go into my old bedroom I saw the black overnight bag she had slung on her back. I hesitated for a moment as I crept into my room but then I thought she would take what I was about to say as a joke.

"Hey Phoenix," I said.

"Yeah Sookie?" she asked turning round to look at me.

"Don't burn my house down."

She smiled at me.

"Promise."


	6. Strike Us Like Matches

**Strike us like matches  
**'cause everyone deserves the flames  
we only do it for the scars and stories, not the fame  
at least everyone else is trying, everyone else is shining  
everyone deserves the flames but it's such a shame  
_- Champagne for my real friend, FallOut Boy_

**.**

I woke at midday with the sun blazing in my windows. I opened my eyes feeling completely refreshed even though the night before had been a long one. Almost immediately my mind touched the inner flames of the other occupant of my home and I was hurled back into my own head in the next moment. I lay on my back for a moment staring at the ceiling and wondered briefly what state the rest of my house might be in. I glanced around my bedroom. There were no signs of burning anywhere that I could see but I was almost afraid to look out of my bedroom door. What would I do if my room was the only one left standing, although I could not see why that would be? I decided that I couldn't lie in my bed and ponder what might or might not have happened.

I got out of my warm bed feeling rather warm and sticky. It had been warm last night, warmer than it had been for a while now. I clambered into the bathroom for a shower so I could feel a little more human. When I was dressed and feeling a lot more awake I left my bedroom. The door to the bedroom opposite me was still closed and I wondered briefly whether Phoenix was still in there but I wasn't willing to reach out to find her unusual brain pattern. So I left instead I padded down the hallway towards my kitchen. I was glad to see that nothing at all was wrong with the house.

Phoenix wasn't in my old bedroom as I discovered. Instead she was in the kitchen making breakfast. She glanced up when I came in and smiled brightly at me.

"Good afternoon," she greeted me as reached for a mug in which to make myself some coffee. I noticed that the kettle had already boiled and Phoenix had a steaming cup of tea sitting next to her. I am not a tea drinker and therefore rarely have it in the house. She must have found the tea that Amelia had left behind.

"Did you sleep all right?" I asked her as I spooned instant coffee into my mug and then poured in the still steaming liquid from the kettle.

"Like a log," Phoenix replied in her lazy English accent with a brilliant smile on her face. "I didn't even dream."

I smiled back at her still feeling a little jealous of Phoenix. I am certainly not bad looking. In fact I am bold enough to say that I am actually quite pretty. Phoenix isn't particularly pretty. She's certainly more striking though and you would be able to pick her out of a crowd. Still, when she smiled she was glorious. Her dark green eyes crinkled at the corners and she displayed wonderful straight white teeth for not being an American. I would have said she seemed to shine when she smiled but it was more like she seemed to burn. At least that was my perspective.

"I suppose I should be grateful for that," I replied with a grin taking a sip of my coffee.

"Hey," she said in a playfully indignant voice, "I don't always burst into flames, thank you very much."

I smiled at her as I slipped into one of the chairs at my kitchen table. It was already set for two people with placemats, plates and cutlery. Phoenix was cooking breakfast pancakes on the stove top using a heavy griddle that I certainly didn't own. I frowned slightly as I looked at it, wondering where on earth it had come from.

"Err ... Phoenix?" I began in a questioning tone and Phoenix's turned to look at me expertly flipping a pancake over without even looking.

"Aye?" she responded with the Scottish alternative to yes. That confused me a little since I didn't think her accent was Scottish at all. I had met a Scottish vampire very briefly before at Fangtasia and Phoenix didn't sound anything like he had.

"Where did you get the griddle?" I asked her nodding at the black cast iron cooking utensil on the top of my stove. Phoenix looked at griddle and then back up at me as though she thought it was an odd question to be asking.

"It was in one of the cupboards in one of the rooms upstairs," Phoenix explained. "I'm sure if you feel I was intruding but I am terribly nosy so I went upstairs to see what kind of view you have and I saw this through open cupboard door. There's nothing quite like making pancakes on a griddle."

I didn't quite know what to say. The griddle on the stove obviously had belonged to my grandmother, Adele, who had been murdered in the old kitchen. I had had the current kitchen rebuilt and installed when a fire was set in my home. I didn't know why I wasn't annoyed at Phoenix for poking around but I just wasn't. Normally I was really uncomfortable with strangers straying into parts of my house that they didn't need to be in but for some reason it doesn't bother me with Phoenix. Maybe it was the way she admitted her curiosity like it was something that she just couldn't help.

"It must have been my grandmother's," I say softly determined for my voice not to waver.

I see Phoenix's brow crease as she moves the last three pancakes for the griddle to the plate on the side where several more pancakes are waiting. She picks the plate up and sets it in the middle of the table where butter and maple syrup are already placed. She retrieves her tea for the counter and then slips into the seat opposite me.

"You must miss her," Phoenix says gently as she takes a sip of her tea. I nodded in response as I took a couple of the pancakes from the plate and placed them on my own. She passed me the maple syrup and I poured it over the delicious smelling pancakes before me.

"What happened to her?" Phoenix asked after a moment as she helped herself to some of the pancakes she had just made. She spread a couple of them with butter and then poured maple syrup on the remaining two making sure that they were at either side of her plate at the time.

"She was murdered," I told her in quiet voice keeping my eyes firmly focused on my plate where I was cutting into the first pancake.

"I'm sorry."

"Thank you," I said quietly accepting her condolences. I didn't talk about Gran a lot nor the manner of her death although I did think about her a lot. "She raised me and my brother after my parents died and since my cousin Hadley had run away and my Aunt Linda had died of cancer there was only Jason and I left. Well, until my great-grandfather Niall revealed himself. Now I've got all sorts of fae family."

I looked up at Phoenix who smiled gently at me. I could see the compassion in her eyes. Family was very dear to me since I had so little. Nowadays, I often considered Eric and Pam as extended family members because I was technically married to Eric vampire style and Pam was his child. Phoenix had stated that she had no family beyond her husband, the vampire Lorcan and his children whose names had slipped my mind. I wondered briefly what had happened to her family that she had no one left. She had said that the story involved quite a bit of the history of her race. I was intrigued I had to admit both by her personally and by this new race of supernatural beings that I had so recently learned of.

"Tell me about your family," I stated quietly not wanting to sound like it was a command. I popped a bit of pancake into my mouth and was surprised by the lightness of it. Phoenix looked up at me with a curious look on her face. She seemed to be contemplating several different things. I watched her as her mouth opened and closed several times as though she was about to say something. I did not try to encourage her. I thought she was wondering where to begin.

"I forget exactly what year I was born," she told me her brow creased into a slight frown, "but it was the latter half of the thirteenth century around 1260 or so. I was born into the Flare family, a prominent family amongst the Ignis. I had two elder brothers Aden and Brenton and later a younger brother named Keegan. All our names are related to our element although it is not always so amongst our race but my family being one of the oldest families does. It is traditional."

She frowned, breaking the flow of her story for a moment.

"I was not born in Aether," she continued and I watched her face carefully, her expression of one trying to remember things long past. "Long before I had been born it was prophesied that a child would be born of immense power to one of the old families of the Ignis and that this child would be the most powerful being that any of the three worlds had ever seen."

"The three worlds being mine, yours and Faery?"I asked and she nodded.

"This prophecy caused a rebellion between the Ignis and the other three races and a war broke out in Aether. There were many Ignis who sided with the other three and eventually the old families of the Ignis were banished from the Kingdom of Aether. A hundred years later I was born."

I could see exactly where the prophecy had been going the moment she had announced what it had been. After all, she was an Ignis and she was extremely powerful.

"I grew up in an Ignis settlement in South West England that was protected from humans by the same kind of magic that keeps Aether protected even if the magic is not as strong. My father was the Head Elder and my birth only clarified his position. My powers were much more unstable than that of a normal Ignis child but as I trained with my Magistar from the age of three I began to exert better control over my powers." She popped a bit of pancake into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully for a second. "My older brothers were both several decades older than me, born within a decade of each other. My little brother Keegan was born when I was six."

"What is a Magistar?" I asked her confused.

"A teacher," Phoenix answered me. "Magistar's teach the young Nativus how to use and control their powers. My Magistar not only taught me these things but trained me, as my parents wished, to be a weapon. You see, Sookie, the Ignis thought that my birth made them the superior race and that they alone should rule Aether. The banished thought that I would be the spear head of their attack on Aether so they could claim it. I was little more than a means to an end and although I realised this when I was quite young I did not run away until I was eighteen years old."

"Where did you go?" I asked in confusion. I had never contemplated running away not even when I was scared out of my wits by the things going on around me. When I had been young my friend Tara Thornton had often ran away from her parents and taken refuge at my house. My brother often protected her from the wrath of her parents who were both abusive alcoholics. Her older siblings had abandoned Tara in their desperation to get away.

"I spend hundreds of years moving all over the world," Phoenix explained. "After America was discovered I spent quite some time over here constantly moving around. You see, my parents sent people after me, trying to bring me back. When I was young I had less control than I do now and although I had had much training there were still times that I was vulnerable. So I kept moving every few years which was also wise since I do not age. There were many times that they almost caught up with me but the older I got the less vulnerable I became. I eventually decided to move back to Britain just after the end of the Napoleonic Wars so it was the eighteen hundreds."

Phoenix paused for a moment to finish the last of her pancakes. I had already finished and when she had laid her cutlery on her plate I gathered the dirty things up and headed to the sink. Phoenix seemed content enough to sit where she was and sip her tea as I began washing up, glancing over my shoulder to encourage her to continue her story.

"It was strange returning to Britain," she said looking up for her mug as I glanced over my shoulder at her once more. "I felt so much at home. Being on the run doesn't allow you the luxury of being able to be homesick but when I got back to Britain I felt relieved to be home. I moved to a small village with a false identity and was to discover, to my great astonishment, that the village was home to not only others of my kind but also shifters, weres and vampires. We often had visits from the Fae. That was when I first met Lorcan, and Eric."

I started a little. I had been trying to picture eighteenth century Britain but was failing miserably. The image in my head was much too modern even if I had been able to see the quaintness of an English village. I had not thought that Eric would come into this story.

"They knew what I was obviously," she continued as she rose from her seat and came over to me with her empty mug. She set it on the counter beside the sink, "and for many years I lived there peacefully visiting Aether on occasion getting to know the proper history instead of the biased one taught to me by my parents. I dated Lake for some time and eventually, after we had broken up, I allowed myself to get closer to Lorcan. I was very wary of our relationship. He had wanted me for himself for some time and we had become good friends over the years but I was unwilling to risk his life for a more intimate relationship."

"So Eric lived with Lorcan?" I ventured as I finished the washing up and dried my hands on a dishcloth hanging from the handle of one of the drawers. Phoenix shook her head.

"No," she answered, "Although he often came to stay. He and Lorcan were very close."

"How did you stand them killing humans?" I asked shaking back my hair. I had been very curious about Phoenix's point of view on this. She looked surprised at the question.

"Of course there were accidents," she told me with no apparent disgust, "but the humans in our village were well aware of the supernatural beings. They were all born and raised there. In effect they were guardians, setting themselves between us and other humans but they were also donors allowing the vampires to continue their quiet existence."

"Really?" I said astounded. It was hard to believe that was true. I was only a little repulsed and more than a little fascinated about how this mysterious society worked.

"Yes, of course," Phoenix said with a grin. "With the vampires in our village being mostly very old, Lorcan was the oldest; they did not have to feed on anyone for very long to be sated. Lorcan already had a child, Callahan, when I met him although Callahan did not live with Lorcan. He visited regularly. I met Pam after Eric turned her and they visited several times. It was not long after that the war began once more. I remember quite well as it was during the first World War and the humans took little notice of it blaming strange happenings on the enemy. My family were all killed in the war but shortly afterward Lorcan made a new child, Soliel, completely my accident. He had been badly wounded and he could not come near me at the time. That is the state of affairs with my family."

I was a little more than thunderstruck by her long story. There was a lot of history in it and I was thrilled that she had imparted the information. It was interesting to know the affairs of other races and I often gleaned very little from the other supes. Phoenix was very open with me. However, I didn't quite understand why she didn't just say that her family had all died during the war or maybe could she tell of my desire to know as much as I could.

"What made you pick Lorcan and not Eric?" I asked her as we left the kitchen and moved into the living room.

Phoenix smiled as we sat down.

"It was more like Lorcan picked me," she told me truthfully. "I am terribly dangerous to vampires. In fact I am terribly dangerous to anyone and although he pursued me I was not willing to risk him." She suddenly looked ashamed. "You must not be disgusted with me Sookie but I was not always so well controlled and I have killed a couple of people by accident."

I looked at her in surprise.

"How does one kill someone by accident?" I asked her.

She sighed looking down at her hands.

"By sleeping with them," she murmured so I could barely make her out. I was appalled I have to admit but the feeling shortly passed. Phoenix could hardly be held accountable because her, ah, condition caused her to burn her sexual partners to a crisp.

"I only attempted it a couple of times," Phoenix tried to assure me, "before I gave up trying. I didn't want to harm anyone. I don't drink alcohol very often and I certainly don't drink a lot. I learned a lot of my self control later in life and my relationship with Lake helped me a lot because he is a water element and therefore my opposite. I very rarely had any problem with him."

She glanced at me then looking rather worried that I would think less of her. I didn't quite understand this girl. She had lived for a good part of a millenium and yet she didn't want me to think less of her. She wasn't at all like a vampire.

"Why are you worried about what I think?" I queried.

"Well, you're mostly human, Sookie," she responded thoughtfully as though she wasn't sure herself why she was worried about what I thought of her, "and sometimes humans have trouble adapting to things they don't understand which doesn't specifically apply to you as a telepath. Still, Lorcan and Eric are very close, almost brothers in a way –"

"But they haven't seen each other since before the Great Revelation," I interrupted her.

"Yes," she agreed patiently, "but time is very different to vampires than it is to humans. When you're a thousand years old like Eric or even older like Lorcan ten years is very little. In human terms it can really equated to a couple of months maybe even a year at a stretch."

I considered that. I supposed she was right. If I were going to live forever not seeing someone for ten years would seem like a very short time indeed.

"As Lorcan and Eric are so close," she continued, "you and I are more like sisters-in-law than cousins-in-law and we will certainly endeavour to visit more often given that you are human therefore time is different for you. We will of course bring Callahan and Soliel with at some point and come in any emergency."

I smiled gratefully. I could see where she was coming from even if it did make me a little uneasy. I wasn't quite sure why it did but it probably had something to do with being bonded and married, vampire-style, to Eric.

"How are you and Lorcan married?" I asked her which must have seemed out of the blue for her. She frowned not understanding the question.

"What do you mean?"

"You see," I began to explain, "Eric and I are blood bonded and he tricked me into getting married." Phoenix raised an eyebrow but did not comment. "His late day man Bobby Burnham came to give me Eric's request to join him at Fangtasia that night and he also gave me a parcel that I was to present to Eric when I arrived. Stupidly, I didn't look in the parcel and, in front of Victor Madden, I handed it to him. Inside was a rare ceremonial knife used for wedding ceremonies which Eric kissed and that, apparently, made us a married couple."

Phoenix looked faintly amused by my situation.

"Do you not wish to be married to Eric?" she asked me. "Do you not love him?"

"I do love him," I responded firmly, "but it's more the fact that I was tricked into the marriage. He didn't discuss it with me or anything. I know he did it to keep me safe from being a leashed telepath in Felipe De Castro's court but I still would have appreciated the heads up."

Phoenix seemed to understand and she answered my original question.

"We have had three marriages," she told me. "We have done the traditional vampire ceremony. It was a little like yours in simplicity in that I handed Lorcan a rare cup used in vampire ceremonies, mainly weddings of the monarchs. We also performed a blood vow. This was in London with Lorcan's maker as witness. Then we were married with a traditional ceremony for my people in Aether. Finally, we had a good old human wedding, at night of course, in grounds of Lorcan's house so that the village could attend."

I stared at her wide eyed. That was a lot of weddings to be having.

"You are obviously devoted to each other," I murmured after a moment. "Mine and Eric's marriage pales in comparison."

Phoenix tilted her head to the side to consider me.

"I was with Lorcan for a long time before we married. You need to decide what is best for you and for Eric. You never know but in time you might decide that the vampire ceremony is not enough to bond you to him even with your blood bond. You might want the traditional human wedding. You need to wait until you are sure and you do not need to compare your relationship to any other."

I let her wise words sink in. I wasn't used to having someone to talk to about these things. My friends were all rather diverse but most of them, the non-vampire ones, wanted to try and get me away from Eric. Tara, my old school friend, had had an extremely bad experience with a vampire named Mickey and as a result thought I was reckless and foolish for continuing to involve myself in vampire affairs. Sam, as a shifter, was naturally unhappy about the situation between me and Eric and often commented that he wanted to find a way to pry me loose from him. Arlene, my old waitressing buddy, had gone completely over to the dark side, aka The Fellowship of the Sun. Alcide was alternate jealous and disinterest which was confusing and Quinn ... well, Quinn was downright mad. Even Jason, who liked Eric, was unsure about it all.

"It's nice to be able to have someone understand," I revealed my thoughts to her and she smiled at me brightly.

"Vampires," she said with a grin in the same tone that women often used the word men. "They're complicated and their whole hierarchy is complicated even my head spins with it." She glanced at the clock noting the time. "Well, we've still got a few hours before we need to be on our way is there anything you need to get done?"

I thought about that. I supposed that I needed to go to Merlotte's and let Sam know everything was all right. I was thankful that I was off today and tomorrow because I would have felt guilty at taking another night off. I wondered if there was anything specific Phoenix wanted to do and asked her so.

"Not really, Sook," she replied shrugging her shoulders. "I'm perfectly happy to follow you around on whatever errands you need to do and you can ask me everything you want although I trust you won't tell anyone."

"Of course," I replied immediately elated that she was willing to answer my questions. If I could keep vampire secrets then I could certainly keep Phoenix's secrets. I wanted to know about the gatekeepers too but I was still put off by the condition of signing a pact with my own blood. I also wanted to see Phoenix en flagrante although preferably not indoors.

I was about to ask her if it would be possible or whether it would put me in danger when the front doorbell rang. I frowned as I wasn't expecting any visitors and the usual people who dropped by unannounced knew to use the back door.

"You expecting someone?" Phoenix asked as I got to my feet and headed towards the front door.

"No," I replied over my shoulder as I reached the door and pulled it open, "it's probably just the ..."

The words died in my throat because I certainly recognised the man at the door although I couldn't quite believe he was there. There were a thousand and one things running through my head right at this moment and I felt guilty that I was relieved that Phoenix was sitting in my living room. I couldn't be bothered with this crap.

"Sookie," he greeted me in his familiar voice.

I licked my dry lips as I swallowed trying to keep my tone neutral.

"Quinn."

* * *

_Well that was a long chapter and I certainly hope you enjoyed. Of course, as always I appreicate your comments and I am glad that you are enjoying the story enough to have continued reading. So please, press that little magic button and make my day. Since it's now 3:40 am maybe you'll think I deserve it :) _

_Kerr x._


	7. Tell Your Boyfriend

**Tell your boyfriend  
**if he says he's got beef  
that i'm a vegetarian  
& i ain't fucking scared of him  
_- Don't Trust me, 3Oh!3_

**.**

I felt like the breath had been knocked out of me as I stared at Quinn standing on my porch looking much like he had the last time I had seen him. His purple eyes, the colour of pansies, looked back at me solemnly. I couldn't do much but look at him and he just stared back an expression of chagrin on his broad face. I thought I knew the reason for his expression and I believed it was mainly to do with his last visit to my home. Quinn had been expressly told by Eric that he was not allowed into Area 5 without his permission, a rule that still rang true, but he had still come to see me. Eric had sent Bill over to make sure I was not hassled and a fight ensued which didn't turn out too well for me.

"Sook, who is it?"

Phoenix was by my side as soon as she had heard the distress in my voice. She had moved at human pace so as not to alert whoever was at the door to her non-human status. I was well aware of the way she had shortened my name so it would seem that we were close and she had also adopted my accent once again. I had no doubt in my mind that Phoenix should not be revealed to Quinn. I didn't know whether or not he was still within the employ of Felipe De Castro. Maybe he was here on Victor Madden's orders or maybe he had just come to see me. Either way it still would not be safe if Phoenix's true identity was known.

It was surprising how little time it had taken for me to become relieved when Phoenix joined me at the door. I glanced at her briefly to see that she was eyeing Quinn sceptically. There was no fear in her eyes at all but I felt as though she could sense how dangerous he could be to me.

"This is my ex-boyfriend," I told Phoenix in a thick voice, my throat feeling restricted, "Quinn."

Phoenix smiled pleasantly at Quinn who was watching her with wary eyes. He was not happy to have found me with company. The feelings coming from his head were muddled and angry but I caught that feeling very clearly.

"It's nice to meet you," Phoenix responded as though she was delighted even though I could tell her smile was false. "I'm Lara Gotobed."

I kept my expression as neutral as I possibly could only registering the surprise somewhere it could not be seen by Quinn. I didn't quite understand why Phoenix hadn't just used her real name but she must have her reasons.

"It's nice to meet you too, Lara," Quinn said gruffly and his head made it clear that he wished Phoenix would just disappear. "Sookie, I ..."

"Quinn why are you here?" I rudely interrupted him still rather shaken by his sudden arrival at my door, again. I had thought that the last time would have been enough to have sent him packing for good. I didn't feel good about the way things had ended between Quinn and me but it was for the best. As irrational as it was I felt as though he had betrayed me.

"Can I come in?" he asked me stepping forward slightly to impress upon both Phoenix and I that he greatly desired to be allowed entrance into the house. I was worried about letting him into my house especially after what had happened last time and also because I wouldn't have put it beyond Victor to have threatened Quinn's mother and sister so he would dispose of me for him. Since it was daytime there were no vampires to protect me. Phoenix seemed to read my mind.

_Let him in if you want Sookie or don't. I will protect you either way._

At that moment I was more than thankful that although I couldn't read Phoenix's mind the usual way she could at least communicate direct thoughts to me. I opened the door a little wider and Phoenix stepped back to allow Quinn into my house. He glanced at both me and Phoenix as he passed. I closed the door behind him before we followed him into my living room. He had not taken a seat and so neither did I. Phoenix perched on the arm of the sofa, folding her arms across her chest and watching Quinn with hawk eyes.

"What do you want?" I rephrased my question as I too folded my arms across my chest in an attempt to appear hostile enough that Quinn would be uncomfortable and leave. I was uncomfortable as it was and I could really do without the hassle.

"I wanted to talk to you," he said in his low rumbling voice, "alone."

His eyes darted to Phoenix who looked at me briefly, completely aware of what he wanted. _I'll bugger off if you want me too, Sookie. I can sit in the kitchen._ I shook my head.

"Whatever you have to say you can say in front of Lara," I told him remembering at the last moment how Phoenix had introduced herself.

The hostile look Quinn had had on his face when he had looked at Phoenix intensified and he glared at her. Phoenix seemed unmoved but I was annoyed by his actions. He couldn't just turn up uninvited and expect me to tell my guests to leave just so he could talk to me, certainly not after what he had said last time he had been here.

"Has the bloodsucker provided you with a bodyguard?" Quinn practically spat at me. "Or are you someone else trying to use Sookie for your own means?"

"Quinn," I exclaimed outraged by his behaviour and by his accusation against both Eric and Phoenix. It was none of his business what happened with or around me anymore.

Phoenix was a lot calmer than I was and responded in a very cool voice.

"I think you should learn to be more civil," she told Quinn before she looked at me. "As your cousin Sookie, I would like to say you used to have bad taste in men."

Quinn's eyes narrowed at Phoenix. I could tell he didn't believe her story. I could see it there in his head as he thought about how he had helped me clean out Hadley's flat after her final death. For some reason his emotions were making his thoughts come through a lot clearer than usual. I could also read his anger loud and clear. He didn't like Phoenix at all.

"Sookie's cousin is dead," he growled back at Phoenix and then looked at me. "Don't try to lie to me."

"My human cousin is dead," I replied firmly through gritted teeth. I was angry with him for being here and for being so absurdly rude to a guest in my house. "I am part Fae if you remember."

That stunned him a little and he looked back at Phoenix in surprise. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the cheeky smile that spread over Phoenix's face. She even wiggled her fingers at him in an insolent wave.

"Quinn why are you here?" I asked again with a defeated sigh. "Everything between us was over ages ago. Everything has been said and done."

"There is still more that I want to say," he told me looking very awkward and I could read in his head that he hated having to say this in front of Phoenix. "I came to apologise for what happened the last time I came. I only meant to come and talk to you but I lost my temper and things got out of hand."

"Oh," I responded in a tone a lot calmer than I felt, "so you're not here to kill me then? That's a relief."

If he had been stunned by my lie that Phoenix was a member of my faery family it was nothing in comparison to his reaction to my question. I could feel his mind reel and flame in anger as his eyes grew wide and his jaw almost hit the floor. However, I had forgotten that Phoenix had no idea about Quinn's somewhat tenuous link to Victor Madden and was a little startled when she immediately stood beside me, her temperature flaming higher suddenly. I wished there was a way to tell her to calm down without making Quinn aware of it.

"WHAT?" he growled.

_What the hell, Sookie?_

I couldn't answer them both so I decided that if I tackled Quinn Phoenix would be able to fill in the blanks from there.

"Were you not aware that Victor has been trying to kill me?" I asked him as though I was faintly surprised by this news.

"He WHAT?" Quinn almost screeched an impressive feat for a man with such a deep rumbling voice and I watched as his huge fists clenched and unclenched. He began pacing the room allowing Phoenix to send a fleeting look my way.

_Will he harm you?_

I shook my head and felt the heat of her body recede dramatically beside me. I was relieved by that. I didn't particularly want her to burst into flames in front of Quinn and since I knew he wouldn't harm me I didn't want her to harm him either. She didn't take her seat again though and remained firmly beside me her eyes following the giant weretiger pacing in my living room.

"Quinn, you shouldn't be here," I said in a defeated tone after a few moments. "Eric said you weren't allowed in Area 5 without his permission and there is nothing more to say between us."

"Why didn't you tell me?" he growled advancing on me slowly although he stopped when Phoenix placed herself firmly between us.

"What were you going to do?" I asked him over Phoenix's shoulder. "I have enough protection and I can take care of myself. After all I'm not dead yet am I?"

I pushed gently on Phoenix's shoulder to indicate that she should step aside which she obligingly did for me although she kept her eyes focused on Quinn. The part of his brain that was not flaming in anger about Victor wanting to kill me was keeping tabs on her every movement.

"You still should have told me," he snarled. "It's that fucking vampire isn't it? You are nothing but a possession to him Sookie. Look how he keeps you away from everyone."

I heard a hiss escape Phoenix's lips but I doubted that Quinn would have been able to hear her. She was bristling next to me not that I could blame her because I was doing pretty much the same thing. I had heard this from Quinn the last time he had come round. I just didn't seem to be able to get it through his thick skull.

"This is nothing to do with Eric," I told him practically growling myself. "I don't need to tell you anything. We aren't together anymore so what happens to me no longer concerns you."

That seemed to take some of the fight out of him. The anger in his eyes dissipated and I could tell that my last sentence had hurt him. Normally I would have felt guilty about hurting him especially since I was the one that had instigated our break up but I was too annoyed with him to feel guilty. Although I wasn't always sure whether the bond had something to do with it or not, I was in love with Eric and Quinn's jealousy and unpleasant comments hardly endeared me to him.

"Sookie, I care about you," he told me.

"You have a funny way of showing it," I replied narrowing my eyes at him. "You have no right to come here and start mouthing off about Eric. So much for apologising for last time you were here you've been just as bad this time."

"So am I just not supposed to react to the fact that Victor has been trying to kill you?" he answered back in a heated tone.

"I didn't say that," I responded quickly, "but I don't see why you have to drag Eric into it."

"Why are you trying to defend him? Are you trying to tell me that Eric has nothing to do with Victor trying to kill you? Are you saying that Victor just took some odd disliking to you?"

"Well he wouldn't be the first person," I retorted just barely keeping myself from screaming at him. I could feel Phoenix beside me, hovering anxiously. She was no longer warm enough for me to feel the heat from her skin but I could tell that she was still ready to act at a moment's notice. At that point I don't think I would have minded if she had hurt Quinn.

Quinn didn't seem to have a response to that. He just dropped his gaze from me glaring sullenly at the floor. I watched his fists flex once or twice as his arms hung by his sides. I shuffled a centimetre closer to Phoenix which didn't go unnoticed by her.

_Are you all right? Do you want me to tell him to leave?_

I sighed wondering whether I did want Phoenix to kick him out of the house. Having seen Claudine in action against a bunch of Werewolves I knew that Faeries were very strong so it wouldn't blow her cover story at all. I shook my head. Quinn was my problem and I should tell him to leave myself. If he didn't Phoenix could always kick him out then. I was glad that he had had more sense this time to come just after midday. I don't think I could have put up with another fight between him and Bill or even worse, between him and Eric.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," he said eventually just as I was about to say something. "The last time I came I just wanted to talk to you, to try and get you to change your mind. I just didn't see why you wanted me to make sacrifices you would never ask of anyone else."

I could have really done without this today. Hadn't we said it all before? I knew that I had been selfish when I had split up with Quinn but I didn't think that I was harder on him than anyone else. I certainly wouldn't ask Eric to give up Fangtasia but what Quinn didn't seem to realise was that I wasn't asking him to give up his family in order to be with me, I had just removed myself from the equation. They needed him, I didn't. Sure I might have wanted him but I didn't need him.

"Quinn, I wasn't asking you to choose," I tried to explain but he interrupted me.

"Yes you were. We can't be together until either Frannie can take care of my mother or my mother dies. That is basically what you said."

The blunt way in which he put it made me feel sick with guilt. I glanced at Phoenix who must be thinking that I was some kind of monster but Phoenix was entirely focused on Quinn, watching his every twitch. I looked back at Quinn and swallowed.

"Your mother and Frannie," I tried again, "they need you a lot more than I do but Quinn you don't seem to understand that is only part of the problem."

He frowned and it was almost as though his entire head had creased in his confusion. Then his expression cleared into anger.

"You said that there wasn't anyone else," he growled at me and I could see Eric in his mind loud and clear.

"Well I was telling the truth," I said in the firmest tone I could manage. "I didn't stop dating you because I had feelings for someone else. You had far too much to deal with already."

"So what am I failing to understand?"

He was roaring now and I could feel the heat starting to rise in Phoenix's skin from where my arm was almost touching hers. She was leaning forward just the tiniest bit which Quinn wouldn't have noticed and I only did because she was beside me. My mind was assaulted by the rage in Quinn's mind and I couldn't quite believe his anger. He was angry with himself for screwing up this time as well as last, he was angry that Phoenix was here, he was angry with his family and he was furious with Eric for keeping me from him. I didn't want to have to tell him what he was failing to grasp, I really didn't but it seemed like he wasn't going to give me the choice. I was angry with him too, angry that he couldn't just leave well enough alone and upset by things that he had said this time and last time. I didn't really know what else to do.

"They're your family Quinn," I said as gently as I could, throttling my voice down so I wouldn't sound angry, "and you have to protect them no matter what. I get that. Family is family."

I exchanged a sideways glance with Phoenix and I could see the slight curve of her lips before our eyes went back to Quinn who was looking stumped at my words. He looked at me with a frown on his broad face.

"And?"

I took a deep breath. I didn't need this right now.

"And it put us on opposite sides last time."

I don't know why people think silence can't make a sound because in that moment it was deafening. He just stared at me in disbelief and I could see that he really hadn't even considered that, it hadn't even crossed his mind. For somebody who I admired for being intelligent it seemed pretty stupid to me that he had not thought of this before. I could feel the shocked blankness of his mind as he stared at me and then he seemed to grapple with his thoughts.

"You think I betrayed you," he said in a voice so low it might have almost been a whisper.

I didn't know what to say to him. It was stupid to feel that way I know but I couldn't get past it. I had emotionally aligned myself with one side and Quinn had been on the opposite side. Nothing could change that now.

"Sookie, I didn't want to," he told me his disbelief plain on his face. "What else could I have done?"

We had done this before already and I had told him before that I knew there was nothing else he could have done. I knew there wasn't.

"What else could I have DONE?" he roared at me his anger taking over once more.

"I know there was nothing else you could have done," I said the firm tone returning, "and I know it's irrational to feel that way but for some reason I do. Nothing can take away the image in my head of you standing amongst my enemies and even though I know there was nothing you could have done it still doesn't change it. I did not ask you to choose between me and your family-"

"That is exactly what you asked of me," he growled interrupting me. I had to grab Phoenix's wrist just then and I thanked Eric's blood for the reflexes to do so. Her skin was burning and I had to give her wrist a squeeze to try and communicate that she should reign herself in. In my peripheral vision I saw her glance at me.

_He's getting angry Sookie. He might become dangerous-_

"No," I told her in an undertone although Quinn obviously heard it. His eyes snapped between me and Phoenix and he certainly couldn't have failed to notice how on edge Phoenix was. I was glad to learn from Quinn's head that he had never met a faery before and therefore he couldn't compare Phoenix to anyone else.

"No," I repeated furiously for Quinn's benefit, "I did not ask you to choose. I took myself out of the picture. You accused me of being harder on you than on anyone else. You said that I hadn't asked Eric to give up Fangtasia for me but the truth is Fangtasia isn't likely to put Eric on the opposite side from me."

He flinched at that and I hated to see it. I had not wanted to hurt him but I was furious and I felt as though I was burning with it. I glanced down to where I was still clutching onto Phoenix's wrist and immediately realised why. I let go of her arm at once and instantly felt cooler, calmer. I definitely needed Phoenix to explain why that had happened to me later.

"He'll never give it up for you though," he said and his voice was no longer furious, it was cold almost malicious. "He doesn't care about you enough to ever give up his position in the vampire world. You are a fool if you think that he will continue to protect you if it threatens him. Felipe De Castro will only have to snap his fingers and Eric will hand you over."

I could feel each of his words pounding at my chest and they were ice cold. How had it come to this? We'd had the beginning of something that could have been so good. How had it come to these malicious words? I had once thought I might have made a mistake in sending Quinn away but now all I felt was regret that he had allowed himself to sink to this level.

"Get out."

He opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off.

"Get. Out. Now."

I did not raise my voice. I kept it very even. Quinn just looked at me for a moment and I looked back wondering how I had ever found him attractive. I supposed I wasn't shallow enough to over look his personality in favour of his looks. I felt rather than saw Phoenix take half a step forward before Quinn walked past me towards the front door. Phoenix looked at me briefly with worry in her eyes and then followed to make sure Quinn was leaving. I stood there for a moment before I went after them.

Quinn was already outside and walking down the steps. Phoenix was watching his retreating back as she leaned against the door frame. I came to stand beside her as Quinn reached the car he had come in, a hire car like the one he had come in last time. He looked back at me. He was still close enough that I could make out every feature of his face.

"Trust me Sookie," he called. "He'll betray you. He'll hand you over to Nevada the moment he asks just to save his own skin."

I had tried but I could no longer contain it.

"Felipe De Castro already asked," I shouted to him angrily, "and Eric didn't hand me over at all. In fact, rather than let that happen, we got married."

I think it had possibly been the biggest shock for him of the last half an hour. He turned from where he had been about to open the driver's door and began striding back towards the porch. Before he reached the bottom of the steps Phoenix strode out to the middle of the porch her arms hanging loose by her sides and her hands balled into fists. Either Quinn had heard about faeries or the expression on Phoenix's face was truly frightening because he stopped in his tracks.

"I think you had better leave, tiger," she told him in a calm but firm voice still using my accent, "and if I were you I wouldn't come back again, ever."

Quinn looked at her for a moment before his eyes wandered to me. I glared back at him. I felt hurt and guilty and upset but I was damned if I was going to let him see any of that. Any respect I had had for Quinn had disappeared within the space of half an hour. I did not look away until he turned on his heel and went back to the car. Phoenix stayed on the porch and I stood in the doorway until Quinn had gotten in the car and driven away. I heaved a sigh of relief and Phoenix turned to look at me.

"You know I thought I attracted trouble," she told me lapsing straight back in to her British accent. She looked so serious for a moment but then she laughed. Her laugh took me completely by surprise and I found myself giggling as she walked towards me and wrapped her arms around him in a fierce hug.

"I'm so sorry," I said into her wild curls as I hugged her tightly and realised that she didn't feel all that warm any more, maybe just a little warmer than a were.

"No need to apologise," she said with a grin as she pulled away from me and we both retreated indoors. "In fact I might just come and live with you for a while. It seems like this is where all the fun is."

Normally I would have objected to what I went through on many different occasions being referred to as fun but this time I didn't. I laughed instead as we both collapsed onto the sofa in the living room. I looked over at Phoenix who was smiling at me broadly, her red hair clouded around her pale face. She was practically a stranger but for some reason I felt an affinity with this girl.

"Thank you," I said sincerely.

"No problem, Sook," she replied her glorious smile somehow stretching wider. "Anytime."

And I knew she meant it.


	8. And Your Body's a Fire

**And your body's a fire  
**an inferno that never ends  
an eternal flame  
that burns in desire's name  
_- Sister of the night, Depeche Mode_

**.**

"Should I even ask?" Phoenix broke the silence after a few moments. We had been flopped beside each other on the couch for a good ten minutes since Quinn's departure without speaking. When I looked at her I could see she was watching me with obvious curiosity in her eyes. I wasn't sure what to say. I didn't know whether I wanted to explain about the whole Quinn situation but Phoenix had been honest and open with me giving me the opportunity to learn all I wished from her.

"It's very complicated," I told her. "In fact, my entire love life has been complicated."

"Well, from what you've told me so far it seems so," she said with a sympathetic smile. "I'll bet the telepathy makes it hard for you to date."

"Well, yeah," I agreed. "Before I met Bill I'd only been on a couple of dates before and I'd never ... well, I'd never ..."

"Had sex before," Phoenix stated bluntly with a curious expression on her face. She obviously had no idea why I was uncomfortable discussing it with her. I could feel myself blushing. I didn't really know why I was so uncomfortable either. Having spent so much time with vampires I'd have thought I'd have loosened up enough to be able to talk about it freely but it was probably that I'd never really discussed sex with anyone other than those I'd had sex with.

"Yeah," I confirmed. "When I met Bill it was so peaceful because I couldn't hear him. I wasn't at all put off by the fact he was a vampire. I fell in love but then he ran off back to his maker, Lorena."

"Not very nice of him," she commented.

"Well it hurt," I told her and then continued to tell her the rest. I told her everything, from the couple of dates with Alcide, to having sex with Eric when he had lost his memory, to my hesitant relationship with Quinn and the reason of our break up. I explained how Eric had said all along that I would be his one day and how sometimes I hated him for his high handedness but more importantly that I loved him. I didn't leave out a single detail. I told her about the whole mess with Bill and the fact that he said he still loved me. I even told her about the Were I'd found injured in the woods on Christmas Eve whom I'd slept with and then never seen again. I'd never told anyone about him before.

"You're right," Phoenix said when I finally fell silent, "you have had a complicated love life but your description of Eric sounds right on the nose. He's always been certain about things and when he wants something he's almost single minded in its pursuit."

I watched her as she said this in a fond tone. She was looking into the distance as though she was watching a scene before her eyes. I couldn't really describe the smile on her face. Her lips had curved up just a little at one corner and I had that strange feeling again because I still wasn't exact sure what kind of relationship Eric had Phoenix. I knew I didn't really have a right to be jealous. It would have been hundreds of years ago and there were women who frequented Fangtasia who'd had sex with him more recently. I wasn't jealous of any of them.

"What about your love life?" I asked her cautiously not wanting to be rude by just asking her out right whether or not she had slept with Eric.

"Not as interesting as yours," Phoenix told me with a grin. "I killed the first three men I ever slept with in the middle of the deed although I did wait at least century between each of them. They were all humans whom I had been quite fond of. When I moved back to Britain I had many offers from not only the humans in our town but also the supes. I took up with Lake and he became the first man I had ever slept with that I hadn't killed. We had a very physical relationship and we fell in love, he even proposed to me but in the end I had to break it off."

"Why was that?" I asked her when she paused.

"He was jealous," she answered with a shrug of her shoulders, "irrationally so. He was jealous of Lorcan even though he knew I wasn't having a relationship with him. You see I became very friendly with Lorcan and the other vampires in our town. In fact, I was friendly with all the supes. Then I went to London with Lorcan and a couple of the other vampires to help the Vampire King of England with an issue he'd been having. Lake slept with another Lympha whilst I was away."

"Why did he do that?"

"He thought I'd been having sex with Lorcan whilst we were in London. So we split up. I started dating a Werewolf called John for a while. The sex was amazing but he broke up with me after I singed him a little. He said he just couldn't continue to take the risk but we remained good friends."

"That's a shame," I said with a sympathetic smile. "Did you burn him badly?"

"It took him only a day to recover," she explained and she had an apologetic expression on her face. "I felt awful but John swore it wasn't my fault. We had attempted make up sex after an argument which turned out to be a bad idea because the fire in my blood was already up."

"I'll bet you've never done that again.

Phoenix caught my grin and smiled back.

"Certainly haven't," she told me before she launched back into the story. I had noticed she was quite good at them. "So I dated another Ignis after that named Liam and by no stretch of the imagination do I tell you that the sex was on fire."

She grinned widely at me then and I laughed out loud. She laughed along with me which only fuelled my hysteria for some reason and the two of us rolled around on the couch for a couple of minutes until my sides ached. As our laughter died I heard Phoenix hiccup.

"Shite," she cursed, rolling her eyes and I had to chuckle a little. She glowered at me before she clasped her nose between two fingers and held her breath. Just when she looked as though she was about to turn blue she let go and drew in a breath. We waited for a moment but the hiccups didn't return. I was glad I didn't get them. I sure didn't like the remedy all that much.

"So what happened to Liam?" I asked her.

"Oh he betrayed my location to my family," she told me with a grin. "Apparently he was sent to spy in Aether by the banished Ignis and I just happened to meet him whilst he was there. So there went that relationship."

I was amazed by how nonchalant she was about it. I mean, sure I was back on relatively good terms with Bill now but he'd fought to save me and I was still quite sore about Quinn whose betrayal hadn't even really been his fault. I suppose my betrayals had been a lot more recent. If Phoenix had been with Lorcan for a couple of centuries, give or take a few decades, then all of this had happened a long time ago.

"So after that I finally decided to give Lorcan and I a chance," Phoenix said with a warm smile that lit up her eyes, "and it was the best thing I have ever done. Of course, at first, I was so scared that I was going to end up killing him that the sex wasn't very good to begin with but a severe talking to from Lorcan sorted that out. As you can plainly tell we've been together ever since."

I smiled. It was nice when things worked out well. I had always been a sucker for stories with happy endings and I just couldn't stand stories with inconclusive or bad endings. Apparently I was too nice for my own good.

"So," I began somewhat hesitant, something Phoenix immediately picked up on, "you've never slept with Eric?"

I watched Phoenix stare at me for a couple of moment before her face cracked into a wide smile. I felt myself flush.

"Absolutely not," she laughed. "It's not that Eric isn't gorgeous or charming, because he mostly certainly is but, even if vampire etiquette was different, Eric certainly wouldn't have pursued me when Lorcan was so clearly interested. Lorcan would have ripped his face off. Anyway, I prefer my men darker than Eric and although he likes to live on the edge I think sleeping with a woman who could kill him mid orgasm just doesn't appeal to Eric."

"But it does to Lorcan?" I asked.

Phoenix smiled wickedly.

"He says it'd be the best way to die."

I couldn't help but laugh at that.

"I'm sorry," I said after I'd stopped laughing. "I didn't mean to be rude but I just wondered and I thought if we were going to be friends then maybe I should know about that kind of thing. You know, get it out of the way."

"I completely understand," Phoenix said nudging me in the arm playfully. "You don't want to feel jealous about something that happened decades ago especially if it didn't even happen."

"Exactly."

"Well, I have kissed Eric," Phoenix told me, "and it wasn't one of those platonic, friendly kisses either."

"Oh," was my very elegant reply.

"If it'll make you feel better you can certainly kiss Lorcan after we get him back from Victor," Phoenix offered. I looked at her to see if she was being serious. I could see that she was. She really wouldn't mind if I kissed her husband of two centuries in a non-platonic manner.

"I don't think Eric would be very happy about that," I told her.

"Well he's kissed me," she reasoned with a grin, "so I see no reason why you shouldn't kiss Lorcan. After all, Lorcan didn't kick his arse for kissing me. Lorc's a spectacular kisser. You'll enjoy it."

"Surely all vampires of their age should be good kissers," I said. "They've had plenty of time to practice their technique."

That made Phoenix laugh again but she dropped the subject. It wasn't really that I was uncomfortable but I just thought it was time to move on. I was glad that Phoenix hadn't slept with Eric, not that I would have liked her any less if she had but I would have been a little jealous I thought. I couldn't help it, I am human. I didn't mind really that she had kissed him and it hadn't been just as friends. I'd kissed Eric plenty of times when I had been in other relationships so my record was hardly as white as snow. Hey I'm part faery, we're touchy-feely.

"How did the shifters and weres coming out go around here?" Phoenix asked all of a sudden and I looked at her in surprise.

"It went quite well actually," I said with a smile remembering Sam turning into a Collie in the middle of his bar. "How did it go over your way?"

"I think it went fairly well all over," she said with a shrug. "I mean you always get your narrow minded bigots but I think it all went down pretty well and I think next year both vamps and shifters of all kinds will be given equal rights."

I was surprised by that. Britain was obviously a lot more comfortable with the revelations than America was. Instead of giving supes equal rights our government was discussing whether or not to have all shifters and weres register just like vampires. Hopefully if it turned out well in Britain our government would follow their lead and do the same instead of treating supes like dangerous animals.

"Will the Nativus be following suit?" I asked her. I knew that the Fae would never reveal themselves to humans and since most of them had retreated to Faery it was not really much of a problem. I wondered if the Nativus were much the same as the other supes or whether they thought there would be no need since the majority of their race lived in Aether instead of in the human world.

"No," Phoenix said decisively. "There is no reason for us to announce our presence and I doubt humans, especially those in power would be comfortable with a race of people with influence over the classical elements. I think the knowledge that I exist would frighten most humans greatly since I am capable of wiping every living thing off the planet."

"I think that is wise," I agreed.

"Also, there would be no need to inform the whole human world of our presence," she said with a smile, "because there are only three Nativus outside of Britain at this present moment in time. I am obviously one of them and a Tellus couple are on holiday in the Maldives."

"Why are there so little of you outside of Britain?" I asked confused. I had thought the Nativus would be like another other race and they would live all over the world. Apparently my assumption was completely off the mark.

"We have only one access into our world," Phoenix explained, "and it is in Britain. You see it isn't just humans who don't know of our existence. There are plenty of vampires, shifters, weres and other supes that have never even heard of the Nativus let alone ever met one. All British supes know of us, we are a British race but around the world we are rarely known. Of course, there are stories, legends, and myths, just like the Loch Ness monster but supes, like humans, rarely know what to believe."

"Can humans enter Aether?" I asked. "Would I be able to see it?"

Phoenix tilted her head to the side like a curious puppy when she looked at me then. I could see her searching my eyes with her own as though trying to read exactly what I was meaning. She looked as if she was trying to read my mind and I wondered if I had that same expression on my face whenever I invaded someone's thoughts.

"Yes, they can. In fact, there have been humans who had lived there in the past."

"Really?"

"The Nativus are just as fond of having human mates as any of the other supernatural races," Phoenix said. "As one of the weaker races on the planet there is no doubt that the human race has remarkable appeal to all supes. I have met several humans who are married or life-long partners of a Nativus. They mostly live in the human world but there is a minority that live in Aether."

"That must be hard," I ventured, "with Nativus being immortal. It must be hard for them when the human passes on."

Phoenix seemed to consider this for a moment allowing my mind to wander to my relationship with Eric. It was pretty much the same situation as any Nativus/human relationship. I would grow old and die whilst Eric remained perfectly the same until long after I had passed on. I wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. I knew that if I asked Eric to change me he would and then I would also be immortal but I would still only be able to spend a short time with him as children had to part from their maker at some point. I also knew that I would hate to be under someone's control like that.

"I think there are those amongst our race who think it is better," Phoenix said bringing my attention back to the conversation. "There are those who think being married to the same person for eternity is boring and therefore if they fall in love with humans they are married to them for the rest of the human's life. Afterwards they are free to find a new partner. Of course, some fall in love with a human and wish to be able to grow old with them and some humans wish to spend eternity with one of our race. Both ways are possible."

I stared at her for a moment not quite understanding what she was saying.

"Can you explain that to me?" I asked. "You are able to give immortality to humans and take immortality from your own race?"

"No, not like that," she explained a crease forming between her eyebrows. "In Aether there are the four birthplaces. The Vivo Lacus is the birthplace of the Lympha, the Quercus Senex is the birthplace of the Tellus, Vallis Ventoso is the birthplace of the Aura and the birthplace for the Ignis is Monte Ardente. If a Nativus wishes to become human he must go to the birthplace of his race with the human he desires to spend his life with but this may only be done at the correct times of the year. If a human wishes to become a Nativus then they must enter a birthplace. The date of their birth goes to deciding which of the four races they should be."

I blinked.

"So any human could be a Nativus?"

"No," she said, "because it does not always work although I do not know what the selection process is, no one does. A human that becomes a Nativus is almost like a human who becomes a were, they are in the middle. A Nativus that was once human will not be as powerful as true Nativus and neither will they have the ability to create or travel by their chosen element. They are only given the gift of manipulation. Does that make sense?"

I nodded. I had gotten the comparison to weres especially well considering that Jason was a bitten werepanther and therefore could not fully transform into a full panther. Instead he changed at the full moon into a half panther, half man.

"So what would I be?" I asked her unable to stop myself. Phoenix smiled at my curiosity.

"When is your birthday?"

"July 1st."

She thought for a moment, her head bobbing slightly like she was counting in her head. I wondered about all these dates and that becoming a certain race of the Nativus had to be done at certain times of the year. Was each season assigned to each race? I supposed Ignis would summer, Tellus would autumn, Lympha would be winter and Aura would be spring.

"You'd be a Lympha," Phoenix eventually told me and I smiled in pleasure.

"Well that's a relief," I responded with a grin, "at least Eric wouldn't have to worry about me setting him on fire."

Phoenix laughed but said,

"You wouldn't be able to set him on fire even if you were an Ignis, you'd only be able to manipulate fire not create it."

I grinned at her widely. There was something about Phoenix that made me feel quite at ease. Maybe it was because it had been a very long time since I'd had just a long conversation with any woman and discussed intimate details of not just my life but also her own. It's not like I didn't have female friends. I had Tara and Amelia and Pam but Tara didn't like the world I lived in, the supe world, Amelia was currently still grieving for Tray Dawson and Pam was too ... well too Pam. Phoenix was extremely easy to talk to and she seemed to be able to empathise as though I was treading a path she had tread before.

"Is it difficult watching people you love die around you?"

I don't know why I came out with such a solemn question but somehow I opened my mouth and out it came. I didn't even remember thinking it. The smile on Phoenix's face died slightly as she gazed out the front window of the living room.

"Yes," she replied honestly. "The humans in our village often pass on as do the weres and shifters. It is difficult but their family remains and you watch them all. Liz is the nine times great-granddaughter of my next door neighbour from when I first moved into the village. Her name was Elizabeth too. My ex-boyfriend John, you'd be surprised how much his seven times great-grandson looks like him. Little things like that tend to help but it's a lot easier when you move around."

I didn't quite know how to respond so I didn't. Phoenix and I just sat side by side in silence staring out the window as the sun shone down on my front porch. It looked like it was a nice day outside. I reminded myself that I needed to go and speak to Sam to let him know that I wasn't dead. I supposed that Phoenix would come along with me. I wasn't sure if Sam had heard of the Nativus and Phoenix had suggested that they were not widely known except for in myths. Were there any such things as myths anymore? I decided to voice that question to Phoenix. She shrugged.

"Who knows?" she said. "I believe that the Loch Ness Monster is a myth. I think it's possibly a shifter, a water horse or even maybe a dragon taking a bath. Not that they are known for cleanliness."

"A dragon?" I spluttered. "Dragons exist?"

Phoenix grinned at the shock on my face. I punched her in the shoulder.

"You almost gave me a heart attack."

She just laughed at me.

"In Aether a dragon is a small fire-breathing lizard. They can sit in the palm on my hand. They are normally quite brightly coloured in orange or red and they like nothing better than scurrying around in fires but they bear no resemblance to the human legends surrounding dragons."

For good measure I punched her again. There was me imagining some great big scaly beast flying around Britain and thinking that Loch Ness looked like a good place to clean up before his evening meal, the local village and she was just trying to wind me up.

"This is nice," Phoenix said after a moment.

"What is?" I asked confused.

"This," she repeated, "Sitting here with you, talking about nothing important, winding you up, it's nice. It's what I imagine having a sister would be like."

I didn't know how to respond to that. I had never had a sisterly feeling before. It wasn't that I had never been close to my female friends but no matter what we were doing I was able to read the minds of my human friends. There was nothing that they could hide from me, no secrets they could keep for themselves and that always inhibited the chances of complete relaxation for both myself and them. I did have Pam who was as close a friend as I had among vampires but Pam's derision of humans in general and her mocking humour could not bring us closer than we already were. Phoenix was different. I was well aware of her power but for some reason I no longer felt threatened by her. She had so many human mannerisms, she breathed like a human and she didn't wrap me in cotton wool nor want to use me in anyway. She seemed perfectly happy to laze around my home with me and talk. Sure our conversation was anything but normal but I could see what she meant. We had discussed relationships, politics and our lives in general, even if each of these subjects were extraordinary in their telling. They were the sorts of things sisters would discuss.

"I suppose it is," I replied eventually and she bestowed one of her glorious smiles on me. Of course, I didn't completely understand her but we seemed very similar, both dating men of a different race from our own and both enjoying the human moments. I thought that the Nativus that lived in Aether would certainly seem less human than Phoenix did but since she had lived in the human world for many centuries she was able to pass comfortably as human even though she was not.

"I was wondering," I ventured cautiously after a moment, "if I could ask you something?"

Phoenix turned her head to look at me raising her right eyebrow in curiosity.

"What is it?"

"Would it be too dangerous for me to see you, ah, on fire?"

Phoenix smiled at my hesitant request.

"When our skin becomes fire," she told me, "it is called fio incendi which literally means 'become fire' and you certainly can. We will need to go outside though and I will need to change.

"Why?" I asked as she stood up and I struggled to sit forward.

"Well, my clothes will burn so I will need to change before I ignite."

"Change into what? Surely any clothing will burn."

"Having Fae relatives are you aware of the gloves they wear to protect them from iron?" she asked me and I nodded. "Well, the gloves are not the only things they have developed."

I thought that was a rather vague explanation but I didn't voice my thoughts as Phoenix left the room to go and change. When she arrived back she was wearing a pair of black straight legged trousers and a black t-shirt. I don't know what I had been expecting but it wasn't that.

"I think the back garden would be best," she told me with a smile as I got to my feet. I led the way out to the back garden. When we were standing in my back yard, a fair distance from my house, Phoenix gestured that I should move back. I retreated to a good distance wondering if we were far enough away from the forest. I didn't want that to catch fire any more than I wanted my house to catch fire.

"Sookie," Phoenix commanded my attention, "don't worry about anything and don't be afraid."

"Of course not," I told her even though I was feeling a little apprehensive.

Phoenix just smiled and then she clicked her fingers. I watched in amazement as a flame sprung forth from the fingertip of her index finger. It wasn't very big and I could barely make it out against her flame-like hair but I didn't look away. Phoenix brought her finger towards her mouth and she glanced at me as she blew at the flame. It flickered and there was a sudden whoosh as orange flames raced over her body completely enveloping her in flames. The suddenness of it made me jump. I had never seen anything like it. I could see Phoenix's outline in the middle of the flames which seemed to lazily lick the air. She looked as though she was made of flames, even her black clothing had been replaced by flames. I could feel the heat from her even standing as far back as I was. In the back of mind somewhere I wondered whether I would be able to get a tan from her.

"Sookie, what do you think?" Phoenix asked me startling me considerably. I could actually see the outline of her mouth and I was amazed that her voice had not changed at all. She still sounded exactly the same. I didn't know quite what to say. I didn't seem to be able to do anything but stare. I swallowed as I watched her.

"Wow," was all I say.

I saw what I thought was a smile on Phoenix's face of flames and then I heard the sound of an engine far too close for my liking. I turned in horror to see my brother's pick-up about to drive around the back of the house. As much as I loved Jason he couldn't be allowed to see Phoenix. I turned to her. She immediately alert when she saw the worry on my face and I saw the flames blaze and intensify.

"Quick," I yelped. "Jason is here."


	9. Life Can Really Burn You Up

**Life can really burn you up**  
when you're a pyromaniac  
but it's just the way I am  
have to take it for a fact  
_- If you love somebody, set them on fire, Dead Milkmen_

**.**

"Hey Sookie," Jason greeted me as he slid out of his truck which he had parked up next to my car, "I just thought I'd drop by to see how you're doing."

I gave him my nervous smile, a smile that stretched across my face almost manically and I glanced around to look at Phoenix. To my ultimate relief I saw her standing, barefoot, in the exact same place looking completely human again in her black trousers and vest top. She had not approached probably due to the heat of her skin. I was glad that she had been quick enough to extinguish herself before Jason could catch a glimpse of her. As shameful as it was for a sister to not trust her brother I wasn't about to risk all our lives on the possibility of Jason being able to keep his mouth shut.

"Whoa," I heard Jason say and I knew he had caught sight of Phoenix, "who is your friend, Sook?"

I turned to look at Phoenix who smiled and began to move towards us. I hoped that she had cooled down considerably because even though Jason wasn't all that observant he was bound to notice if her skin was roasting hot. I looked at my brother to see a familiar expression on his face, he found Phoenix attractive. I could see the way his eyes trailed the length of her and his most charming smile immediately took up residence on his face. I was unsure how I was supposed to introduce her. I didn't want to get it wrong.

"Hi there," Phoenix greeted Jason with one of her glorious smiles, "I'm Phoenix Celtman."

"Jason Stackhouse," my brother responded looking a little thunderstruck by the smile she had bestowed on her, "I'm Sookie's big brother."

"Yeah, Sookie's told me about you," Phoenix told him as I just stood there speechless looking between them.

"All good I hope?"

Phoenix didn't reply to that and instead glanced at me. She reached out and squeezed me hand delicately without Jason even noticing. I gave myself a little shake and gave my brother a genuine smile.

"Where's Michele today?" I asked him as the three of us trailed towards the house.

"She's working at the moment," Jason told me as he followed me in the back door. "How is Eric?"

"Oh he's all right," I told him as we went into the living room. "I'm seeing him tonight. Do you want a drink?"

"Yes please."

"Phoenix?"

"I'd love one Sookie, cheers."

I disappeared through to the kitchen leaving Jason and Phoenix to take their seats. I quickly poured three glasses of lemonade since it was far too warm for tea or coffee. I was uncomfortable leaving Jason and Phoenix alone together for too long. I set the three glasses on a tray and hurried through to the living room with them.

"So you're from Britain then?" I heard Jason ask as I came through the door.

"I'm English," Phoenix confirmed as I set the tray on the coffee table. "Cheers Sookie."

"Thanks Sook," Jason said as I handed him a glass before I settled myself on the sofa next Phoenix. "So, how do you know my sister?"

Phoenix and I exchanged glances. I'm sure neither of us knew how to describe how we knew each other. I hadn't told Jason about my vampire marriage to Eric so it wasn't like I could tell him that Phoenix and I were related by marriage.

"Through Eric," I informed my brother.

"How do you know Eric then?" Jason questioned Phoenix.

"My husband and Eric are old friends," she said before she took a sip of her lemonade. I saw Jason's smile falter slightly when he heard that she had a husband. I could also see a frown crease into his forehead as he deciphered exactly what Phoenix meant.

"Are you married to a vamp?" he asked incredulous.

Phoenix nodded in response and glanced briefly at me. _Does he know about you and Eric? _I shook my head ever so slightly, just enough that she would notice but not enough that Jason would think anything of it. He was looking at Phoenix with a strange expression on his face before his gaze switched to me.

"You will tell me before you decide to marry Eric won't you?" he said surprising me greatly. I knew that Jason liked Eric well enough and he certainly respected him as my boyfriend but I hadn't thought he would be at all comfortable with the idea of Eric and I getting married. I would obviously have to revise some of my deeply held opinions of my big brother. Since his estranged wife Crystal had been murdered whilst she had been pregnant with his child Jason seemed to have grown up a lot. He seemed to have matured and his new girlfriend Michele was a lot better for him than Crystal had ever been.

"Of course Jason," I told him feeling a bit guilty since, in the vampire world, I was already married to Eric but Jason didn't need to know that. If I decided to tie myself to Eric with a human wedding then I would inform Jason of my decision.

"You'd better," he informed me with a stern look that I knew was meant to be playful, "because someone needs to give you away and if I don't then who will?"

"I could ask Claude or Uncle Dermot," I responded teasingly sticking out my tongue. "In fact, if I asked Uncle Dermot people would probably think it was you anyway."

Jason rolled his eyes. He still wasn't quite happy that I had known, and kept from him, that we were one eighth fairy and that our great-grandfather Niall Brigant had claimed a relationship with me. He was getting better about it though and was no longer as bitter as he had been. He was actually quite fond of Uncle Dermot who was his double both in looks and personality although I found that they had both grown up considerably. Jason due to Crystal's death and Dermot due to having a spell removed. Jason was even getting on with Claude who, now that Faery had been sealed off, was a lot easier to get along with.

"Have you met Uncle Dermot and our cousin Claude yet?" Jason asked Phoenix and I heard from his mind that he was wondering whether she knew about the Fae. He was thinking that she didn't look like a fangbanger for all she was married to a vampire and that she must know as much as I did about supes because of her husband. Since he had become a werepanther Jason's mind had been more difficult to read than usual but only slightly. I could still read him better than a true were.

"No I haven't," Phoenix replied with a smile, "but I'm looking forward to meeting them. You rarely get to spend time with the Fae with vampires around."

Jason looked at me round eyed at Phoenix nonchalant answer. I just smiled at him. He was still getting used to knowing about all the different supes and the whole alternative world in which I spent a lot of my time. I could see him eyeing Phoenix speculatively and I could read quite clearly that he was wondering if she was a supe. I watched his nostrils flare delicately and I knew he was trying to pick up any smell that might indicate that she wasn't human.

_Do you not trust him?_ Phoenix's voice interrupted my inner thoughts. I pondered her question studying my brother briefly whilst he was staring at Phoenix trying to decipher whether or not she was human. I thought about the Great Reveal, when weres had announced their presence, and how Jason had adhered to Calvin's orders and not shown his other nature. I thought about how Jason had kept his mouth shut about Claude and Dermot. I remembered when he had accompanied me to a meeting with the Shreveport Were pack and from there to Eric's. I remembered how he had pushed Eric's ribs back into place, let Pam drink his blood and waited for the cleaning crew to arrive. I nodded, yes, I trusted Jason.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Phoenix smirk as she picked up her glass and took another sip of lemonade.

"So Jason you're a werepanther," Phoenix began the heavy hitting. Jason was startled and his eyes flew accusingly to me.

"I didn't tell her," I protested holding my hands up in the air as though in surrender.

"She didn't," Phoenix agreed. "I can just tell."

Jason looked between us suspiciously. I could hear thoughts thundering through his mind so fast that I could hardly catch one before another interrupted it. He was confused, more so than usual because he was so sure that she wasn't anything he had seen before. I caught that thought loud and clear.

"How?" he asked her stiffly.

"I can sense it," Phoenix tried to explain, "your aura, let's call it. I can feel what you are."

I didn't know how it was possible but my brother became even more confused after than statement. I could only offer him a look of empathy. I certainly knew what it felt like to be in his position. It had been less than twenty-four ago that I had been the confused one. I felt rather foolish when I realised that. I had only known Phoenix less than twenty-four hours and I already trusted her, so much for my determination to be cautious.

"What are you?" Jason asked her leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knee. He looked apprehensive and his eyes kept flickering to me. I hear directly from his mind that he was worried that I was in even more trouble and whether Phoenix was the cause of it.

"You will never have heard of my race," Phoenix told him with a smile.

"How do you know that?" Jason asked offended. He didn't like it when people assumed that he was stupid.

"Jason I hadn't heard of her race," I offered trying to save my brother's foolish pride.

"Oh," was his reply and he looked rather miffed on my behalf. As far as Jason was aware I knew everything about the supe world even if he knew a little more about the intricacies of the pack life for weres of all kinds. He wasn't as naive as he had been in the beginning. When vampires had come out of the coffin I hardly thought I was the only to wonder what else was out there but more and more people proved me wrong. Jason certainly hadn't thought about it to begin with but since he'd become a werepanther he wasn't as naive about the supe world any more.

"What are you?" he asked again moving ever so subtly as though getting into position for a blow.

"I'm a Nativus," Phoenix told me. "We're not a very well known race even amongst supes."

"Well, I've never heard of you-all," Jason said with his effortlessly charming grin.

"You can't tell anybody about this," I told him firmly, "or anybody that she is here and by anybody that includes your pack, Jason Stackhouse. You are not even allowed to tell Michele."

Jason immediately raised his arms as though in surrender.

"Whoa, chill Sookie," he told me. "I'm not going to tell anyone, I swear. Does Eric know about this?"

I knew what he was asking in his subtle way. He was trying to establish whether Phoenix was a danger to me and that I needed to be protected from her or whether she was here keeping an eye on me because of some other trouble that was brewing. I could fault Jason's conclusions. It wouldn't be the first time my life had turned upside down.

"Phoenix is an old friend of Eric's," I told him with a grin, "but don't ask anything. The less you know the better."

"All right," Jason agreed after a long moment. I could tell he wasn't exactly comfortable with this arrangement but he knew that I could keep a secret and that Phoenix certainly didn't look like the type to share on things that she thought were nobody's business. I wondered why the Nativus were so secretive.

Jason left the topic well alone and began telling me about how Hoyt had asked him to be best man at his and Holly's wedding. As Hoyt had already told that he was going to ask Jason I wasn't all that surprised by these turn of events. Hoyt and Jason had been inseparable most of lives until Jason had married Crystal but they were slowly reverting back to being good friends. As Jason and I talked and gossiped a little Phoenix pottered around the living room a bit before she left and I didn't like the look on her face that I caught when I left. She looked uncomfortable, unhappy.

"Well I had better go," Jason announced not too long later as he rose to his feet. "I promised Michele I'd pick up a few things before I head home."

He gave me a hug.

"What did you come over for?" I asked curiously as I walked Jason to the back door.

"Well I just figured that since about that stuff happened with Eric's maker and his brother and all that maybe it was time I checked up on you more often. How is Eric about all that?"

I shrugged my shoulders. Eric had barely spoken about his maker's death or the circumstances that had led up to it. I didn't push him about it. I knew he didn't like feeling weak and me coercing him into telling me what he was feeling was hardly the best way to empower him. That's all Eric wanted, empowerment.

"He's fine as far as he lets me know," I told Jason. "I think it must be hard. For a vampire losing your maker is probably a bit like losing a father. They teach you everything."

Jason nodded and gave me a brief one armed hug.

"Take care of yourself," he told me.

"Don't I always," I retorted with a vibrant smile.

He glowered at me a little and then left. I watched him from the back door as he crossed to his truck and got in. He raised a hand in goodbye before he reversed out of my back garden. I smiled as I watched him go and then turned back into the house. I wandered through to the living room wondering if I should go get Phoenix and head to Merlotte's. Phoenix was waiting for me on the sofa with an expectant look on her face.

"Were you and Jason just talking about Eric's maker, Appius Livius Ocella?" she asked me. "Has he met the final death?"

I looked at her in surprised and then just nodded. Phoenix looked shocked for a moment.

"Did you know him?" I asked her sitting down next to her.

"Yes," she said with a smile. "That's not to say we were friends but I respected him as Rex's brother and as Eric's maker. He was a devious old thing."

Well at least Phoenix was under no illusions about Appius Livius. I hadn't liked him at all, mainly I think because of the power he had over Eric and I hated that. It made me more than nervous to realise that whatever Appius commanded him to do Eric had to obey. If he had wanted me dead he would only have to say the word. I had wanted to kill him but in the end he was killed by a faery who had been intending the fatal blow for me before Appius' had indicted with his eyes for me to move. I had and he had died.

"Sorry," Phoenix said after a moment of staring into space. "It's just I hadn't realised and Lorcan never mentioned anything and neither did Rex."

"Who is Rex?" I asked when I heard the name Rex all I saw in my mind was a scary, giant dinosaur.

"Rex is Lorcan's maker," Phoenix illuminated me further.

"Rex doesn't seem like a very good vampire name," I said with a giggle. "If he's Lorcan maker surely he is very old."

"Rex is only a nickname. His full name is Vercingetorix."

I gaped.

"What?"

"Vercingetorix," she replied and I listened carefully to the way she pronounced it in her English accent Wer-sin-geto-rix. I didn't think I had ever heard a more unusual or more astonishing name before and I thought I had problems being called Sookie, a name people constantly thought was short for something. I couldn't do much but stare at Phoenix for a moment wondering whether she was pulling my leg again like she had with the Dragon comment but she looked perfectly serious.

"What kind of name is, ah, that?" I asked changing my mind suddenly at the last minute. There was absolutely no way that I was going to be able to pronounce that name properly and I didn't like making a fool of myself.

"It's an old Gaulish name," Phoenix told me, "meaning great warrior king. There is another, more famous Gaul by the same name who led a revolt against the Roman's but Rex pre-dates him."

I tried to remember any mention of the Romans and the Gauls from my school history lessons but we just weren't taught much to do with European history except from our participation in both World Wars. I also didn't remember too much from school due to my inability at that point to block out others thoughts and I had difficulty concentrating on what the teacher was trying to say.

"So how old is he?" I asked.

"Around two and half thousand years," Phoenix guesstimated for me and I could feel my expression shift to being impressed. I had met an older vampire, Ancient Pythoness, who was not only an old woman when she was turned but an ancient vampire as well. Still I always found it impressive when a vampire was far older than most of the others I knew.

"What is he like?"

I couldn't help but be curious. I wondered whether this Rex was anything like Eric's maker who had shunned the idea of mainstreaming and was certainly preferred the old vampire ways. Appius Livius had given me the creeps.

"Rex is Rex," Phoenix answered cryptically. "He's cunning, devious, ambitious like any vampire might be but he's also easy to get along with. Unlike most of the vampires I know he has a sense of humour even if it isn't always kosher to human ears."

She smiled fondly as she spoke of him and I felt a little envious on Eric's behalf that Lorcan had Rex as a maker whereas Eric had Appius.

"What does he think about your relationship with Lorcan?" I had to enquire.

Phoenix laughed.

"At first he thought Lorc had lost his mind," she told me, "and he thought he had some kind of death wish, like he was committing suicide by Ignis. I had met him two or three times before Lorc and I became a couple so he was no longer scared of me but he didn't trust my self control. Now, however, I think it pleases him. He greets me like any father might greet the wife of his beloved son. He once said that I would have made an excellent vampire which coming from any vamp is normally meant as a compliment."

I laughed along with her and I found it a little weird that we both laughing at the strangeness of vampires. After all neither of us could be considered normal. Phoenix was a completely separate race and I was some odd hybrid of human and faery as well as being a telepath. I could hardly laugh at anyone else for their odd behaviour.

"Right," I said firmly as I glanced at the clock, "I suppose we'll be leaving shortly but I need to go to my work. I need to let Sam know that I'm not dead."

Phoenix frowned.

"Why would you be dead?" she asked in a clearly puzzled tone.

"Well," I said embarrassed, "I have a bad track record with unknown supes especially unannounced unknown supes."

"Ah," remarked Phoenix at the realisation, "and last night I showed up not only as a stranger but also looking like I do."

Now it was my turn to frown and I roamed my eyes all over her. I didn't understand what she meant. She looked fine to me and it wasn't like she strolled into the bar covered in flames.

"Looking like what exactly?"

"Don't make me laugh, Sookie," Phoenix said with a smile. "I am well aware that people, mainly supes, think I look dangerous. Considering what I can do I think it's only fair that they get some warning and don't try and placate me because I'm well aware of how I look. I think it's the cheekbones."

She ran a long finger up one of her sharp cheekbones as she said this and I found that there was nothing I could say in return. Phoenix did look dangerous when you didn't know her and yesterday I had certainly been scared. Still I was able to see her for what she really was, not human whereas I had noticed others in Merlotte's watching her with unbridled lust in their heads. Even my own brother, a bitten werepanther, had given her his most charming smile. It made me feel annoyed that I was pretty instead of striking although I have no idea why.

"Okay well maybe I was a little scared," I admitted to her in mumble.

Phoenix laughed pushing me playfully in the shoulder and I couldn't help but smile as I looked up at her. Her head was thrown back as the smoky, soft sound of her laugh uttered from her lips and I could see the pale, smooth skin of her throat.

"Well now you have admitted your fear," Phoenix said her joy still obvious from the way her eyes seemed to sparkle, "I think we should go see your boss. I wouldn't want him to think that I had murdered you and hidden your body."

I laughed with her but I couldn't help thinking about what Eric had told me. If Phoenix had wished to kill me there wouldn't be a shred of evidence left, let alone a body.

It was no time at all until Phoenix was following me in the back door of Merlotte's. I had decided to change into the plain jeans and blue t-shirt I was now wearing. I had thought that my white linen pants were likely to get messy this evening if experience in dealing with vampires had taught me anything. Phoenix was wearing her special black pants and t-shirt which revealed just a thin strip of the pale skin of her lower stomach. I wondered whether she was aware of how sexy she looked in her extremely flame retardant clothing and whether it was purpose.

As I had hoped Sam was in his office and the door was open. I glanced inside to see Sam sitting at his desk one hand gripping his hair tightly as he stared at the paperwork on the table before him. I knocked on the door to announce my presence and Sam looked up startled.

"Sookie," he sighed my name in relief.

"Hey Sam," I responded a little sheepish at having not gotten in touch before, "can we come in?"

Before Sam could answer Phoenix and I were in his office and I had closed the door. I had thought that the less people who saw me with her today then the less chat there would and the less chance it would reach anyone that a stranger had been in town.

"Sure," Sam answered a little late and I could see the wary way that he was eyeing Phoenix up and down. He didn't trust her as far as he could throw her although considering the things he could shift into that could seriously be quite far.

"Hello again," Phoenix greeted Sam in her polite English accent. He didn't reply just glaring rudely at her before he switched his gaze to me.

"Who is she?" he asked me completely ignoring the fact that Phoenix was standing right there. I felt affronted on her behalf but Phoenix didn't seem to be overly concerned. In fact, I would go as far as to say that she was checking Sam out.

"Sam Merlotte, my sister-in-law," I began and then frowned turning to Phoenix, "or is it cousin-in-law?"

Phoenix shrugged.

"It would depend on whether you were going for accuracy or the truth," she replied with what I felt was the most cryptic and contradictory sentence I had ever heard in my entire life although I kind of knew what she meant.

"Sam this is my sister-in-law Phoenix Celtman," I returned to my introduction.

Sam stared at me like I had lost my mind and then looked between Phoenix and I like he was watching a tennis match for a moment. Then he shook his head.

"Sorry, your what?"

"Ah, Phoenix's husband is Eric's brother," I explained roughly.

"His vampire brother," Phoenix elaborated with a smile as though that made everything okay and then she glanced at the clock on Sam's desk. I watched her frown for a moment as she looked at the time and then she glanced at her watch.

"And what exactly are you?" Sam blustered as he looked at Phoenix.

"Oh I'm an Ignis," Phoenix told him airily as though it was a common enough thing that everyone would know about.

I watched Sam for his reaction. He stared at her for a moment as though he couldn't quite believe his ears and then, he started to laugh. It was my turn to wear the disbelief. I couldn't quite believe he was laughing at something so powerful.

"An Ignis," Sam snorted after he had finished laughing, "they're a myth."

Phoenix arched one perfectly shaped eyebrow and then raised her hand in the air. Unsure what she was about to do I took a step back as Phoenix clicked her fingers. Sam flinched as her hand was suddenly alight with dancing orange flames and then he stared at her as though he couldn't believe his very eyes, as though he thought they were lying to him.

"Oh," was all he could manage to say.

Phoenix smiled and the flames were gone as quickly as they had appeared leaving her hand completely unmarked.

"Sookie we must go," she told me once she had revelled in her victory of shocking Sam. "I can't get us directly into the airport so we must leave slightly earlier."

I nodded at once and turned to Sam to say goodbye. He was still staring at Phoenix his jaw open and I could almost see the cogs whirring in his brain. I was dying to eavesdrop on his thoughts for a moment just then but I restrained myself. I didn't want to know what he was thinking about Phoenix even if his thoughts were completely pure. I knew Sam liked to dip his toe in the wild side occasionally hence his relationship with a werewolf called Jannalynn but Phoenix made Jannalynn look like a butter knife next to a samurai sword.

"I'll see you soon Sam," I told him but got no response as he continued to stare at Phoenix. I shrugged at her and then led the way out of Sam's office leaving the door ajar once more. Phoenix and I left Merlotte's via the back door and found ourselves in the car park. I headed towards my car but Phoenix stopped me by grabbing my wrist.

"We have to go now," she told me.

"Right now?" I asked a little fearful. "Can't we do it at home?"

"We've no time," Phoenix told me. "Security at the airport will be tight and I need to arrive in a place where no one will see us, not the middle of an airport."

I nodded to show that I understood but hesitated when Phoenix beckoned me forward.

"Will it hurt?" I asked her nervously.

"No. You will probably feel very warm but not enough to hurt you in any way and you might also feel disorientated which could cause nausea resulting in vomiting or fainting."

I didn't particularly like the sound of that but as long as I wasn't going to burn to a crisp then I felt I could go through with it. I swallowed and steeled my nerves, clenching my hands into fists at my sides as I nodded.

"Okay, what do you want me to do?"

Phoenix grinned at me and then opened her arms wide.

"Just give me a hug."

Nervously I stepped forward into her embrace. She gave me an encouraging smile and I tried to return it although it felt weak and watery on my face. She tightened her arms around my back and I slipped my still clenched fists around her waist. She held me very tightly and I pressed my eyes tightly closed as I felt myself grow warmer.

"Sookie."

My eyes snapped open to see Sam standing in the doorway of the back entrance to Merlotte's with a shocked look on his face and then he was obscured by flames.


	10. Girl On Fire

**Girl on fire**  
how the flames make you learn  
you lit up the city  
that's the heat that burns  
_- Girl on Fire, Inxs_

**.**

I was moving faster than I ever had before. I could feel myself whirling around squeezed against Phoenix and heat flooding through every pore of my body. I felt like I couldn't breathe and I pressed my eyes tightly shut not daring to open my eyes. I have never been on a rollercoaster before but I thought this journey had now ruined me for any rollercoaster that I might have possibly been able to ride.

There was nothing quite as startling as when I hit the ground. My knees made painful contact with the gritty, cold ground. I could feel my gag reflex kicking in and I leaned forward to put my hands on the ground before begging myself not to be sick. I felt as though I was choking and I could hear myself coughing, spluttering as I felt something trying to force its way up my throat. I was only briefly aware of a hand rubbing my back gently and a voice making calming sounds in a language that I didn't recognise. I wanted to be sick although I knew I would be embarrassed if I was so I struggled against the violent reaction caused by the whirling.

Slowly, eventually, I began to manage to gasp for breath which felt as though I had not drawn it in a long time. I could feel little stones digging into the heels of my hands and my knees felt damp. I could tell that Phoenix was crouched beside me still rubbing my back and muttering soothing words that I couldn't understand. The heat of her was obvious even through the material of my t-shirt. I choked only a few more times and eventually stopping gasping, regulating my breath evenly. Phoenix had warned me what could be the outcome but I felt embarrassed nonetheless.

"Are you feeling better?" Phoenix asked me suddenly switching back to English. Startled I sat back to look at her. Her face was very close to mine and concern shone out of her dark green eyes. I frowned for a moment as my stomach heaved for the last and final time. Then I nodded.

"Good," she responded to my nod and hooked her hand under my elbow to help me to my feet. Once I was upright I swept my hands down the front of my jeans knocking away all the little stones that had stabbed into my flesh and took quick stock of my clothing. Apart from damp patches around my knees nothing was burnt or even singed. I let my hands wander up to my hair to find that it too had arrived in this spot in the exact same condition as it left Merlotte's parking lot. I wasn't quite sure what to say.

"Wow," was the very elegant expression which first managed to leave my mouth.

Phoenix smiled at me.

"I am glad you're impressed," she said. "I'm impressed too. You didn't vomit at all although I was sure you were going to at one point."

"I didn't want to embarrass myself too much," I admitted.

"You did well," Phoenix told me. "The first time I transport Liz she vomited, then passed out and she is a shapeshifter."

That statement made me feel very pleased with myself. I hadn't wanted to come across as weak and vomiting in the middle of what looked like an alley was not my ideal way of looking strong. I had to admit to myself, even if not to Phoenix, that I was apprehensive about travelling that way again and I knew I would in order to get back.

"Where are we?" I asked glancing around at the dark, narrow alleyway which gave off the aroma that something had died here recently. I did not want to investigate any further needless to say.

"About two streets from the airport," Phoenix informed me taking my arm. "Come on, Eric and Pam will be landing soon."

Phoenix walked at a brisk pace which, despite my shorter legs, I managed to keep up with. I kept trying to take in my surrounding, trying to see how much damage had been done to the city since I had last visited but I didn't really manage it. I was lucky enough to not be tripping over my feet. The pace that Phoenix kept was extraordinarily fast and even then I was certain she was toning it down so that I could keep up with her. It made me feel rather inadequate. I was going to have to stop hanging around with all these supes before I started having a complex or something.

We reached the airport without incident. There were a few people milling around and Phoenix and I quickly found the terminal where we were supposed to be meeting Eric and Pam. The sun hadn't quite disappeared behind the horizon yet so we waited patiently. As we sat I could see the reaction of the normal people who passed us when they caught sight of Phoenix and even heard a few of the thoughts in their heads before I managed to shut them out. Phoenix herself seemed completely unbothered as she sat there waiting for the sun to go down.

"So, ah," I began eloquently trying to breach a subject that I didn't really know how to bring up. It wasn't something I had ever attempt to discuss before but I felt that since Phoenix and I were on the same wave length maybe she would understand a little how I felt.

"What is it?" she asked me curious her head tilted slightly to one side like a confused puppy.

"What is it like knowing that, ah, knowing that you and Lorcan will never, ah, have kids?" I eventually managed to get out feeling myself flush slightly as I struggled my way through the sentence as I picked up my jeans trying to avoid her eyes.

"Oh," Phoenix looked stumped and I could understand why. It wasn't something I intentionally liked reminding myself of half the time let alone reminding anyone else. I knew that I'd never have the normal family life when I fell in love with Eric because I would never have breakfast with him or go to the beach for the day or play with our children in the front room. We would never have children and I found that difficult to cope with. I had briefly, once, thought about artificial insemination but I didn't think that Eric would be open to that kind of suggestion

"I'm sorry," I told her glancing down at my hands. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No Sookie," Phoenix replied shaking her head, "you don't have to apologise. Lorcan and I have two children."

"Yes Callahan and Soliel," I remembered their names, "but they're his vampire children. I meant actual children."

"No, Sookie," Phoenix said patiently. "Lorcan and I have two non-vampire children."

I stared at her disbelievingly.

"What? Are they his? Are they actually Lorcan's?" I asked her not able to wrap my head around this.

"Well, no," Phoenix told me with a smile. "You know that vampires cannot reproduce at all but then again they are not biologically mine either although they are related to me. You see, when my cousin and her husband died Lorcan and I stepped in to look after them. Luckily, they are both Aura, after their father, thank goodness or else things would be very dicey with Lorcan in the house along with two young Igni."

"Oh," I responded feeling slightly disappointed. I had hoped that something was wrong somewhere. I had thought about having children for so long now, like it was a normal thing to do but I had to admit that the world in which I lived was hardly safe for children. Then again if Phoenix and Lorcan could manage then surely Eric and I could.

"How old are they?" I asked realising that whilst I was thinking of young children of similar ages with my cousin Hadley's son Hunter, Phoenix's children could well be my own age or even older.

"Finn is six," Phoenix told me with a fond smile on her face, "and Aria is four."

"What do they call you?" I asked her curiously.

"Mum and dad," she replied easily. "They're too young to remember MacKenna or Ethan so we're a family. An odd family I grant you but a family nonetheless. Obviously Lorcan and I could never have our own children so we had to make do with surrogates."

I had been afraid of that and I just couldn't see Eric wanting to adopt a child with me. I couldn't even foresee a time when it would be safe for us to have a child. I decided to venture in a different, albeit related, direction.

"Did Lorcan have children when he was alive?" I asked hesitantly well aware that I was picking another sensitive subject.

"Yes," Phoenix responded evenly. "He had a son, a bastard."

I decided to ignore the bastard bit for now as I wasn't sure of its relevance.

"Do you find it difficult that he has had children with another woman but can't with you?"

I felt like I was wading in waters that I could not control for a moment but Phoenix looked almost startled by my conclusion. I had to admit to myself that occasionally, when I thought about it, I was jealous of the fact that Eric had had a family even if it was a thousand years ago. He had loved his children and that was a human emotion that he still carried.

"I've always had the option to have a baby if I wanted to," she explained carefully. "I seriously considered it at one point. After all, my friends around me all had children, some had even had grandchildren by this point or even great-grandchildren. I had plenty of offers to donate, some which I contemplated more than others but it was never a viable option for me and Lorc really. I am the most powerful, not only Ignis but Nativus, even being, in the world, both my own and yours, and no matter who the donor was there was more than a fifty percent chance that any child I had would be an Ignis. A normal Ignis child living with a vampire is bad enough but my child ... well, I couldn't, I wouldn't take the risk, not with Lorcan's life."

I sighed. I felt defeated. I was certain Eric would never entertain the idea of having children with me especially not via adoption or artificial insemination. I could see Phoenix looking at me strangely in the corner of my eye almost as though she was wondering why I was asking all these complicated questions at a time like this. I could tell her exactly why: distraction. That and I didn't know if I would have a chance to ask her these questions again.

"It is difficult," Phoenix began slowly after a moment, "to be a family when you are a supe or even with a supe in the human world. My children are in constant danger; even Callahan and Soliel are in constant danger especially with Lorcan ..."

She shut up suddenly then and I could see that she thought she had said too much. I eyed her suspiciously as she glanced out of the windows of the airport.

"Especially with Lorcan what?" I questioned her but she seemed inclined to ignore me by rising to her feet.

"We had better go," she said. "It is dark."

Without glancing behind me to see if she was right I got up to follow her to the terminal where we would meet Eric and Pam. I stared at the back of her head as though I might see into her brain and pick out her thoughts from there, which I knew I couldn't and I didn't even bother to try seeing as I knew I would just be flung out of her flaming head and back into my own. I jogged a little to catch up with her so I could confront her face to face as it were.

"Especially with Lorcan what?" I asked again in an almost threatening manner. "Is this to do with Eric? Is he trying to get you to keep things from me?"

Phoenix and Eric had spoken to each other briefly once via mobile phone so Phoenix could be informed of the landing times of their plane but I hadn't heard the conversation. I hated the idea of Eric controlling the amount of information I had access too. Surely as his wife I should be entitled to know more.

"No," Phoenix protested although she didn't break her stride. "The only thing Eric wants kept from you is about the gatekeepers but as much as I am fond of Eric it is your life to choose to know what you wish and I have told you of the contract that you would have to sign."

"So why aren't you telling me why your children are in constant danger because of something to do with Lorcan?" I argued my mind almost refusing to believe that Eric wasn't behind this somehow but as far as the evidence went Phoenix had not lied to me yet. "Do you not trust me?"

"Of course I trust you, Sookie," Phoenix admonished me for such foolish thinking, "but I can't tell you. I haven't even told Eric, if that satisfies you."

"Not really," I told her trying not to pull out my petted lip. I didn't want to be sulky about it but I had already grown accustomed to Phoenix readily telling me things and her keeping something from me made me suspicious.

She stopped so suddenly that it took my brain a few seconds to process what she had done in order to slow down my body. By the time I had stopped to turn I was standing a couple of feet away from her. Phoenix seemed to be in deep thought as though trying to decide the best course of action. I wondered what the big secret was and why it was so important. Why was Lorcan endangering his children? Did he not have a choice?

"Look," Phoenix said quietly her eyes snapping up to meet mine, "if I tell you, you have to swear that you will never tell anyone without deferring to me or Lorcan first and that includes Eric. Can you keep a secret from your lover?"

I knew the answer was definitely a yes but I paused for a moment as though to make it appear I was debating the issue. I could certainly keep secrets from Eric but he also kept secrets from me. Still, I didn't want Phoenix to think any less of our relationship. Not that she did, in my eyes but I certainly did when I compared it with her own with Lorcan. They seemed so much stronger than Eric and I. I felt that we were just a pale imitation of what they had. Phoenix would have probably said that it was mainly due to having spent so many years together but that didn't make me feel any better.

"I can," I replied trying to be formal about it. Phoenix seemed to like formality when it came to secrets or declaring yourself for certain things.

Upon my answer she moved closer to me until we were practically touching.

"Rex's full title is His Majesty Vercingetorix Arverni of Great Britain, Ireland and British Dominions Beyond the Seas King, Defender of Vampires," she whispered to me her eyes darting around us watching for anyone who might overhear. "It is a very powerful position amongst vampires as the Kings and Queens of Europe all defer to him. He is the oldest of them and, of course, he has allegiances with not only the Weres and Shifters but also with the Nativus, even myself as a daughter-in-law. You can see what a powerful position it is?"

I nodded. His title along with his name was a mouthful but I could certainly see why that was a powerful position. Vampires didn't particularly get on with other supes so any vampire that had allegiances with them would certainly hold a powerful position.

"Now, as the Nativus are thought of only as myth, there are those in the European court who are foolish enough to want to cause Rex harm in order to control Great Britain for themselves, including Poland, Bavaria and Denmark with backing of some of the Kings and Queens of the smaller nations, I cannot go into the list now. Rex's Kingdoms are great as the Vampire King of Britain inherited all the same areas as the British Queen does which included sixteen different territories and sixteen different titles. He wants to prevent an outbreak of violence in Europe especially with American vampires such as Washington, New York and even Virginia eyeing the smaller weaker states in Europe to extend their reach. Some of your bigger states are even threatening his own countries."

"So what does he plan to do?"

This seemed like a very intense topic of conversation for this moment in time and now she had started I wasn't sure I wanted to know the rest. I had enough problems of my own at the moment what with Victor and Felipe and my marriage to Eric. Still, I had insisted although I didn't think that the explanation would be this long or this complicated.

"He plans to abdicate," she said in an even softer voice, "to Lorcan."

I felt my mouth form an "o" although I knew I had no control over it. Lorcan was to become the Vampire King of Great Britain and all that it entailed. That was something that was likely to put anyone in danger especially if the amount of territories that came with the title were so great.

"Why would Lorcan be in any less danger than Rex?" I asked.

"Because he is married to me," I told her. "Rex is allies with the Nativus and I am his daughter-in-law but that doesn't necessarily conclude that they will stand behind him, although I certainly would. If Lorcan becomes King his position is cemented by his long standing respect within every community including Aether. It also means that I would be revealed to the vampire King and Queens around the world."

"Do you think that'll work?"

"The move is backed by all the Vampire regents of all the countries which Rex is King of and even many of the European ..."

She broke off then as someone passed us eyeing us with interest. She didn't want to be overheard at all.

"So you would become Queen?" I asked once I was safely sure the man had gone and I had quickly scanned the area for any other presence.

Phoenix frowned at my question.

"I am not sure. I would maybe take a lesser title."

It was my turn to frown.

"What is Rex's wife called?" I asked her. "Surely you would take that title."

"Yeah if I want to move to Canada," she laughed. "Rex's wife is The Princess Aleesi, Vampire Regent of Canada, consort to His Majesty King Vercingetorix of Great Britain et cetera."

"Rex is the King of Canada too," I gaped in amazement. "No wonder other vampires want the title. How does Lorcan feel about it? Why haven't you told Eric?"

That was the main question I had been dying to get out. Why did Phoenix not want to inform Eric of these startling events especially when Lorcan and Eric were apparently so close? Then again Phoenix had just explained the unrest and also that some of the American vampires were threatening.

"Well, Lorc's taking it all in his stride because he was always set to inherit the title," Phoenix told me. "If we are in the presence of other Vampires, especially when in London, he is received as His Royal Highness so maybe it's just not happening like he expected it would. I haven't told Eric because Lorcan wants to tell him himself."

"Why?"

I felt like I was being dumb but I didn't want to admit it.

"With Lorcan being the only vampire child of Rex, Eric is fifth in line to inherit the title at the moment. When Lorc becomes King that bumps Eric up to fourth in line after Callahan and Soliel."

"What?"

I stared at her in shock my jaw hanging open. Eric had never mentioned this. Then again he hadn't mentioned Lorcan or Phoenix or the Nativus or anything along those lines. He hadn't mentioned his maker really until he was prompted. I was getting sick of finding all these things out from other people. What else wasn't he telling me?

"Well until Callahan or Soliel create a child then he will move further down the line," she explained. "I wouldn't worry. He probably didn't tell you because of the improbability of him inheriting the title. After all, vamps don't die often and they do tend to create at least one child in their time."

I couldn't actually speak for a moment something which didn't happen often but seemed to be happening a lot recently. Eric could become King of Great Britain and all the rest? Well, that was a knock out if there had ever been one.

"I wonder what else he is keeping from me," I said out loud.

Phoenix grabbed me then and pulled me into a very tight cuddle. I was startled by it. Obviously I had looked very forlorn to be receiving such a violent hug. I didn't know quite what it meant but for some reason I felt reassured.

"Whatever he is keeping from you," Phoenix told me when she let me go, "be assured that he does love you, more than anything."

I smiled slightly at her. I felt drained a little by the information she had given me.

"We'd better go or they'll be wondering where we are," Phoenix brought my attention back to the situation at hand. We were going to go and get Eric and Pam then rescue Lorcan, the future King of Great Britain and everywhere else, before Phoenix killed Victor.

"Oh yes," I said bewildered for a moment before Phoenix grabbed my hand and we both made our way to the area where Eric and Pam would be waiting for us. I recognised the terminal as the one I had landed in on my first trip to New Orleans.

We reached the double doors at would allow us access to the hangar where the small plane would now be parked whilst its few passenger disembarked. I hopped that my discussion with Phoenix had not delayed us for too long. I hadn't felt any anxiousness roll through the bond from Eric but that didn't mean he wasn't wondering where we were. Maybe they just thought that Phoenix had appeared further from the airport than she had meant too.

Phoenix and I came in through the double doors still hand and hand. There is the middle of the hangar still waiting for us were Pam and Eric. Eric still looked every bit as gorgeous in his black pants and his match tank top which showed every bit of muscle with his hair braided. I could have devoured him. Pam was looking very Alice in Wonderland tonight with her blonde hair held back by a blue Alice band which matched precisely with her pencil skirt that she was wearing accompanied by a white blouse and blue high heeled shoes. She looked beautiful but not very well dressed for a fight.

"I see you have got better acquainted," Eric remarked as Phoenix and I drew closer and he spied the fact that we were still holding hands. Phoenix let go of me.

"Well, that's what happens," I commented before I went to receive my welcoming kisses from Eric.

"Hello lover," he said when he had me in his arm and I couldn't help but smile. He kissed me then and it went on longer than I would have expected not that I minded in any sense. I just responded to equal enthusiasm. I could feel his arousal through our blood bond and I knew it wasn't just from seeing me again but also from the prospect of a good fight, something Eric revelled in.

"I'm only guessing that the reunion between you and Lorc will be even worse," I heard Pam say as Eric and I broke apart.

Phoenix was smiling when I looked at her but she didn't make any comment back. I wondered whether that was because Pam spoke the truth or because she was focusing more on what was about to happen than on Pam's teasing.

"How was the journey?" I asked them slipped my own small hand into Eric's rather large one.

"Fine," he replied unaccustomed to being asked that. "How was yours?"

His smile was almost disturbing gleeful. He was obviously thrilled at the idea that I could recount exactly what travelling by Ignis was like.

"Horrible," I told him repressing a shudder but I smiled at Phoenix. She didn't catch it however as she was now focusing on the ground the same worried expression across her face as she had had last night in Merlotte's and today when Jason had been visiting.

"What's wrong?" I asked her calling both Eric's and Pam's attention to Phoenix. She didn't answer straight away and instead just focused on the floor for a moment longer. Then her eyes snapped up. I caught only a glimpse of the flames in her eyes before they were extinguished. That worried me. I didn't want Phoenix to flame up anywhere near Eric or Pam.

"They're hurting him," she told us a shudder going through her.

"Lorcan can handle it," Eric said quietly in a definite tone. I couldn't find anything to say. I had been in her position where I could feel that something was wrong with a loved one and Eric had been as well but I didn't know anything comforting to say. Phoenix just nodded in response to Eric's not-so-comforting comment but she seemed a little appeased by it. Her expression seemed to clear a little and she managed a smile. I tried to give her what I thought was a reassuring smile, a smile that said, "don't worry, soon Victor will be a pile of ash and we'll all live happily ever after". I'm not sure she received all of that.

"Shall we get going?" enquired Pam.

"And where, my dear friends, are you going to go?" announced an all too familiar voice and one that we did not want to hear. Slowly I looked up to see Victor Madden standing by the exit with a swarm of vampires around him. Shit!

* * *

_Guys, I am so sorry it has taken so long but I had a massive mental block on this. Then the new book came out and I didn't quite know what to do with it. I hope it's still an enjoyable read. Letting me know your thoughts and feelings is only a click away._

_Kerr x._


	11. This Game Called When You Catch Fire

**Let's play this game called when you catch fire  
**I wouldn't piss to put you out  
stop burning bridges and drive off of them  
so I can forget about you  
_- Tell that mick he just made my list of things to do today, FallOut Boy_

**.**

Okay, so getting kidnapped by Victor and taken back to his mansion bound and gagged was not on our list of things to do today or, at least, it hadn't been on mine. His vamps had surrounded us at the airport and although I could sense that Eric had wanted to put up a fight he had submitted to being bound with silver as had Pam. I was, of course, bound and gagged as was Phoenix. She didn't put up a fight at all and neither Victor nor his little crowd of vamps seemed to be at all interested in her. They probably thought she was some full human companion of either mine or Pam's, since Pam was so famously interested in women.

Well, at least, they hadn't discovered what she was yet and since we were trying to find Lorcan Victor taking us back to what he was calling "his palace" must be a good thing. It didn't feel like it, not when I was hurtling around against my friends and my husband in the back of a van that was going too fast for any human to be driving it. I hadn't wanted this at all. Now all the vamps that worked for Victor knew that we were there and it was going to be a lot harder than I have wanted it to be. No sneaking in, burning Victor to a crisp, grabbing Lorcan and making a quiet, albeit hurried, getaway. Not anymore. Damn Victor for turning up at the airport.

As the van turned a corner I rolled once more and I heard Eric grunt slightly. I was sure he wasn't in pain but I could feel his anger and despair at getting caught in this situation again. I had to feel sorry for him because if it wasn't for me he could have had a good chance at ripping them all apart. Then again Eric was too practical for that. He wouldn't risk his very long life on a chance that he might survive. Of course if he didn't have me he might not have been a target for Victor at all.

_Sookie, are you all right?_ Phoenix voice was soft in my head but it comforted me to realise how calm she was unlike myself, Eric and mostly likely Pam too. I couldn't respond. I didn't have the ability to project my own thoughts into the minds of others although at this moment it didn't seem like too shabby an idea. I felt a warm body press up against my own and knew it was Phoenix, mainly due to the fact that the other two were vampires. I nudged her slightly to let her know I'd heard her.

_Look, if they ask I'm Lara Gotobed. I doubt that they'll know what I am so they might just think I'm a human or I could even pass for a shifter of sorts. I'm hoping Victor will want to provoke Eric by bringing Lorc into the room. That would make things easy._

Again I nudged her to let her know that I had heard her. I wasn't quite sure about her plan but Victor was always going out of his way to rile up Eric and I was pretty certain he would stoop to any means possible and that included using Lorcan as bait. I hoped that Phoenix was strong enough not to give any signs of knowing Lorcan because that would only inform Victor of our true purpose here, although he was sure to know at some point so I wasn't quite sure why I was worried about Phoenix's reactions.

I knew when we had arrived because the breaks screeched and the four of us were thrown forwards, crashing into each other. I was squashed between the warmth of Phoenix and the cool, lean body of Eric. I could feel his aggravation through our bond and it seemed to swell the anger down inside of me. I struggled against my bonds a little; fighting the despair I was feeling, trying to convert it to anger. It wasn't the first time I had been taken hostage, bound and gagged but the last time was a memory so terrible that there was no way I could want another experience like it that would be even more vivid because I had been awake for it all.

Moonlight streamed in to the back of the van when they opened the doors and the four of us were bundled out. I took a good look at the vampires that manhandled out of the van and up the steps into the huge house that Victor called his "palace". For a brief moment I wondered whether he called it that to Felipe De Castro who had pronounced him regent for Louisiana but the thought slipped away just as quickly. The vampires that marched us through the marble hallway were strangers to me. I had thought that at least one of them would have been amongst the vampires that had surrounded my home during the takeover. Then again they had been Felipe's men not Victor's and the vampires belonging to Victor that I had known had met the final death on the side of the road when they had tried to kill Pam and I. I smiled viciously against my gag. I hadn't ever been particularly brave but that memory made me feel a little more confident. Well, that and the fact that Phoenix was marching along beside me.

We were shown into a large room. There was a fire crackling in the hearth giving the room an orangey glow which contrasted the pale silver moonlight that shown through the windows framed by over-elaborate curtains. Everywhere I looked there were silks, satins and pieces of statement furniture that suited Victor flamboyance down to the ground. I think I knew what message he was trying to convey not only with this room but with the entire house. He ruled here. Well, I got the message loud and clear, not that I liked it any.

"My dear friends," Victor said as he swept into the room in a graceful, unearthly way that could only come from being one of the undead. He was smiling and there was confidence practically flooding his eyes. I narrowed my own and if looks could kill I knew I would have just thrust a stake through his non beating heart. Looks couldn't kill however so I had nothing.

"How nice it is for you to come and see me," he said settling himself a huge leather armchair that you would often see old men in movies sitting in whilst the smoked a pipe. He waved his hand and we were all un-gagged. The two vampires holding Phoenix and myself left abruptly but I knew they would probably be just a moment way, standing behind the door. Eric and Pam remained flanked by the four vampires that were guarding them.

"It wasn't our intention," Eric replied stiffly.

Victor laughed and I had to steel myself not to cringe at the sound. The laugh was one full of confidence as though he had nothing to fear and I supposed that as far as he knew he didn't. All he saw before him were two vampires and two human women. He couldn't suspect that Phoenix was any threat to him and he didn't know of her connection to the prisoner he held somewhere in this palace. I was hopeful that he was actually holding Lorcan here and not elsewhere.

"What was your intention, Mr Northman?" Victor asked before he switched his gaze to me. "I must admit Miss Stackhouse that I did not expect to find out at that airport. I had heard that only the Viking and his child were on the flight. How did you get here Miss Stackhouse?"

"I was already here," I invented trying to force the same stiffness into my tone that Eric managed. I feel that it was rather lacking but I held my head up and met Victor's gaze straight on. I was determined not to let him intimidate me. I must admit that I would have probably felt a lot more apprehensive if Phoenix hadn't been standing beside me.

"Already here," Victor repeated slowly in a disbelieving tone. "What, without out your great protector? Surely Mr Northman you don't allow your wife to go gallivanting around without some form of protection considering her ... gifts."

If he had been your average man I would have slapped him for that had my hands not been bound. I was a person not an object and I could protect myself somewhat.

"My wife," Eric responded coolly his eyes not even flickering to me, "can go where she chooses and she has plenty of protection."

That brought Victor's attention straight to Phoenix. I wished that Eric hadn't said that. I am sure that he hadn't meant that all. He could have been referring to weres, shifters and fairies but Victor was not to know that and the only person in the room he did not know was Phoenix. I chanced a quick glance at her. She looked unperturbed by the attention that was now upon her. She did not avert her eyes from Victor's stare and she held her chin up. She looked as though she was looking down her nose at him as though she was disgusted by him. I wish I could have heard her thoughts at that moment.

"And what exactly are you?" Victor asked rising from his chair and coming to stand in front of Phoenix. He stood only a couple of centimetres over her. I had no idea how old Victor might have been but for being so old and being a woman Phoenix was taller than any other woman I had ever met. I envied her slightly, especially the long pale legs that were almost as pale as the skin of the vampires.

Phoenix didn't respond and just continued to stare at him. Victor brought out his fangs suddenly and moved closer to Phoenix in a movement I could barely make out until their noses were practically touching. Phoenix didn't try to run and she didn't flinch. In fact, she gave no outward appearance that anything had changed. I think I flinched slightly at the sudden movement, afraid perhaps that Victor might do something to her.

"So not a human then," Victor said with a smile as he retracted his fangs and very carefully moved his face away from Phoenix's. "From the warmth of you and that steady heartbeat I hear I would say you're a shifter."

"You have excellent powers of deduction," Phoenix told him speaking for the first time in a tone that implied that she thought his powers of deduction where rubbish and that he was as thick as two short planks. Her accent had changed again into one more suited to New Orleans. I was amazed at how natural all her accents sounded and I had a fleeting thought of asking her to teach me how to do it. That was if we got out of here unscathed though.

"Ah so you do speak," Victor comment jovially clapping his hands together as though he was being delighted by a monkey playing a drum. "I wondered whether the cat had got your tongue."

He beamed round at us as though well pleased with his grasp of the vernacular. I felt like rolling my eyes but didn't. No need to cause too much aggravation since I was the weakest being here.

"Do you have a name?" he asked Phoenix looking back at her with a polite smile as though he had met her in the street and not brought her to his house bound and gagged for absolutely no reason.

"Lara," Phoenix told him shortly.

"Well, Lara, how did you come to know this sorry lot?"

Victor was the one that was going to be sorry. I could feel the way Eric's temper flared just then and I did all I could to send waves of calm through our bond to him. The last thing I needed was for Eric's temper to fly out of control and put us in a greater danger than we were at the moment. If I knew anything I knew that it would be better that things remained calm so that Phoenix would get her chance to burn Victor and get us out here. We also needed to find out if Lorcan was actually here. I hoped he was and I hoped Phoenix was right about Victor wanting to provoke Eric.

"I don't think that has anything to do with you," she told him firmly. "I know them and that is that."

Victor laughed.

"Stubborn too," he said in a delighted tone. "Well, all shifters are stubborn though. So Eric, Pam, what do I owe for the pleasure of this visit?"

I was lucky I didn't but I almost breathed a sigh of relief when Victor turned away from Phoenix and moved over to stand in front of Eric and Pam. I caught Phoenix's eye briefly. Her dark green eyes were completely calm. Then again I didn't see why she shouldn't be. Unknown to Victor Phoenix could change the state of play with no more than a snap of her fingers.

"We did not intend on visiting you except to let you know that we were in the neighbourhood," Eric responded in a glacial tone his blue eyes looking down at Victor who was nowhere near his height.

"I'm hurt," Victor told him, "you come all the way to New Orleans but not for the pleasure of my company. So why are you here?"

I could see what he was doing. He was trying to gauge whether Eric had any idea who he was holding prisoner. When it came to vampires they didn't really believe in coincidences and no doubt Victor didn't believe that Eric was here just on a whim when he held Lorcan. I wondered why everyone seemed to know more about Eric's business than I did. Then again another thing about vamps that I found incredibly wearing was how secretive they all were, especially the one I was supposedly married to.

"To get Sookie," Eric told him briefly.

I watched Victor's eyes light up before he turned his gaze back to me.

"Ah the lovely Miss Stackhouse," he practically purred, "and what, pray tell, are you doing down in New Orleans? You know you should really have checked in with me on your arrival."

"She doesn't have to," Pam piped up then in a brusque tone. "She isn't a vamp and therefore our laws do not apply to her."

"Eric, please muzzle your dog," Victor said flippantly.

I saw Eric give Pam a warning look as Pam's temper flared in her eyes. She caught the look however and then went rigid in her stance. Victor turned his attention back to me. I hated being under that gaze. Somehow it always made me want to squirm. I felt like I needed a good talking to. I was a full grown woman not some little child and I had been through more than most women my age.

"I was visiting friends," I told Victor before he even began to repeat the question.

"Which friends?" Victor asked with a gleam in his eye that I could interpret.

"Lara," I told him with the sweetest smile I could muster. It was one of those smiles I used to cover up my true feelings, one of the ones that the patrons of Merlottes called me crazy for. I didn't really care what Victor thought. Soon, all too soon, he would hopefully be out of our lives forever and hopefully with minimal come back on us.

"So let me get this as straight as I can," said Victor with a most charming smile. "You, Miss Stackhouse, came down to visit this shifter Lara on your own?"

I nodded in response barely trusting myself not to speak. I kept on wanting to refer to Phoenix by her real name instead of calling her Lara.

"When did you arrive?" he asked me, shooting the question at me like he was some cop in one of those programmes on the television. I racked my brain for an answer but I didn't want to spend too long thinking about or else he would know I was lying.

"Not long ago," I said. "Maybe four days."

"Four days," Victor repeated at length. "Do you know, four days ago, a vampire came to me to let me know that he was in New Orleans on holiday. I was taken aback by who had just come into my palace to say he was staying in my city. Now I had never seen him before but when he introduced himself, well, of course I knew him."

The four of us remained in stony silence. I could feel my heart beginning to beat faster. I cursed my stupid humanness. I was likely to give us away with my heart giving away the adrenaline rushing around my body. I wasn't sure whether Victor's eyes flickered over me then but I was pretty sure that every vampire in the room, and maybe Phoenix too, could hear the way my heart rate had suddenly increased.

_Calm down, Sook. _Phoenix's thoughts interrupted me before I could start panicking about my increased heart rate. I tried to take a deep breath without Victor noticing.

"We're now on the lookout for his companion," Victor said with a smile. "They were staying at Le Sang Chante together and were booked in for two weeks. It seems as though no one has seen this companion of his except to tell us that she's tall with red hair."

I don't know how I managed it but I didn't gasp. However, I did glance at Phoenix who was standing there in all her glory tall with fiery red hair. Victor seemed to follow my line of sight but then ignored Phoenix completely.

"Do any of you know a vampire of that description?" he asked us in a soft tone that was more dangerous than any he had used before. So he thought that Phoenix was a vampire. Well, he was wrong but I didn't understand how someone could mistake Phoenix as a vamp. Then again with skin as pale as hers and with the way that she moved as long as you were far enough away I could see why someone might have made that mistake, especially if the mistake had been made by a human.

"No," Eric answered for us all. "I know several small red haired vampires but no tall ones. A tall female vampire is unusual enough."

Victor shook his head slowly, in disappointment.

"Eric, you should know better than to lie to me," he said. "Bring him."

We heard the doors open behind us and I wanted nothing more than to turn round to see this Lorcan, Phoenix's husband, Eric's brother but I didn't. I stayed focused on Victor who was now smiling broadly. Phoenix had been right. Of course he would provoke Eric this way. I could feel Eric's anger rolling inside on me and when I chanced a glance at him he was in a rigid stance, not looking at Victor and his fangs were on full display. He had to calm down.

Then Lorcan came into view and couldn't help but gasp. In my peripheral vision I saw the sharp glance Eric gave me but it didn't matter.

He was guarded by six of Victor's vampires even though he was bound with silver but I couldn't even spare them a glance to mark their faces. The vampire they were flanking had all of my attention. He was beautiful, in the most masculine sense of the word. He was even taller than Eric but maybe only by an inch and whereas Eric had a fabulous golden beauty to him Lorcan was very dark. I had expected long hair but his was actually quite short and swept back from his face to maybe reach the end of his hairline. He had dark eyes too, almost black when I looked at them, like pools of ink. A knife edge nose and angular features reminded me of Eric somewhat although they were by no means similar, more that they might have shared a common ancestry. He favoured Eric's jeans and t-shirt style but what was showing of his muscular arms was covered in intricate black designs. I couldn't help but gape. He was staggering.

"Eric, I believe you know my guest," Victor said in a playful tone.

* * *

_I am so sorry that this chapter is so short but the next one is going to be quite long so I'm afraid you'll just have to hate me for it. What do you think of our boy Lorcan then? Is he everything you imagined? Let me know. x_


	12. There is a house in New Orleans

_Right, I know I'm an Epic Fail and I've been away for far too long so I apologise profusely but I'm back with a brand new chapter. I shouldn't make excuses but my computer completely DIED on me so I had to get a new one. Since I got the new one I have been focusing more on my original fiction. I'm currently trying to write two novels and novella simultaneously which is silly but characters don't leave me alone. You might be pleased to know however that I have started posting the novel which I borrow Phoenix and Lorcan from up on my fictionpress. It's called Frostbitten and there is a link to it on my profile. I've only got the prologue up so far but I'm hoping to post as I write._

_ Anyway, I'm glad to be back and I hope you enjoy this chapter._

* * *

**There is a house in New Orleans  
**they call the Rising Sun  
& they've been the ruin of many a poor boy  
& God, I know I'm one  
_- House of the Rising Sun, The Animals_

**.**

"I believe you two know each other?"

Victor was enjoying this I could see rom the plain delight plastered across his face and I couldn't bear to be so close to him. I looked back at the vampire Lorcan who had lifted his dark gazed to look at Eric. I saw the way his mouth tightened at the corner as he glanced over him. My own eyes then went to him. He was looking back at Lorcan with anger in his eyes and I could feel that anger through our bond, like a pulse, throbbing. The two vampires just seemed to stare at each other for ages and I wondered what they were reading in each other's eyes so intense was their gaze.

"And Pam is here as well," Victor interrupted the moment with a flutter of fingers indicating the female vampire by Eric's side. He sounded like a host at a dinner party reintroducing old friends.

I watched Lorcan's eyes switch to Pam's face but nothing changed within them. He seemed unsurprised to find both of them here, a fact that concerned me slightly. I could not swallow the bitter taste of apprehension that would have had shifting from foot to foot if I had thought that the action would go unnoticed. My heart was thundering like a train through a tunnel which I was sure everyone in the room was well aware of and I wanted to curse it for giving away my fear and anticipation of the current events.

"Do you know Eric's wife, the talented Sookie Stackhouse?" Victor made my introduction causing those dark eyes of Lorcan's to look around at me. That gaze almost took my breath away as he held my eyes with his for a few moments before he gave me a once over and I thought I saw a fleeting glimpse of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

"And her were friend here is Lara something or other."

Lorcan was every inch the vampire when he looked at Phoenix. Absolutely nothing betrayed their knowledge of each other when their eyes met. He treated her in the same manner he had dealt with me and there was nothing in his eyes that anyone could read. I wished, not for the first time, that I could get inside Phoenix's head. I was dying to know what she was thinking seeing her husband bound in silver and flanked by vampire guards.

"Victor, you are a fool!" Eric stated in a restrained voice that sounded like it wanted to be a hell of a lot angrier. "Do you know who this is?"

Victor gave Eric a look of false shock as though he might not have considered all the variables in his plan.

"Mr Northman, you do insult me," he said silkily, his most dangerous tone. "Of course I know who this is, and even if I had not he did introduce himself upon arrival in New Orleans. Do you think I am unaware of your connections? Why, your maker himself, mentioned Mr Celtman to me and how close you were."

"Did he also happen tae mention tae ye the name o' my ain maker?"

Surprise reverberated around the room when Lorcan spoke although I believed the surprise was mainly my own. I understood now why Phoenix occasionally slipped into the Scottish accent or even used the word "aye" in place of yes. Lorcan spoke is a very heavy Scottish accent that reminded me briefly of a character from one of my Gran's "stories". His question also seemed to knock Victor off his stride and he did not answer but Eric did.

"When he called us brothers you naturally assumed he was Lorcan's maker," Eric called Victor out before he laughed loudly. I couldn't be more confused because the situation was hardly a laughing matter and Eric was not the sort to laugh like that, almost jovially, as though he had pulled off the joke of the century.

"No unlike Ocella tae want tae take credit for me," Lorcan told Eric with a smile. I noticed he was keeping his eyes firmly off Phoenix.

"I doubt it matters either way," Victor said with a smile obviously managing to get a hold of himself. "You see, I have your merry little band and once I have your wife Mr Celtman there will be no one to inform your maker of your capture."

What puzzled me most were the relaxed expressions that both Lorcan and Eric shared and the waves of calm coming through the blood bond to me. I could maybe partially understand their behaviour because with Phoenix with us and Victor totally unaware of who and what she was we were pretty certain of escape. I was terrified. What if something went wrong? What if Victor staked Eric before Phoenix could take action? What if our vampires fell foul to the flames? We might lose someone in the commotion.

"How dae ye ken my wife hasn't already informed my maker?" Lorcan replied evenly. "She's a slippery, fast wee thing my wife."

I watched as Lorcan briefly met Phoenix's eyes and the ghost of a smile wandered over her face but Victor did not catch this exchange, in fact, I barely did. He had a deep crease between his eyebrow replacing his earlier gleeful joy and it gave me a king of vicious pleasure to see it.

"I am protected by Felipe De Castro," Victor announced almost dramatically, "Vampire King of Nevada, Louisiana and Arkansas."

Out of the corner of my eye I caught Eric's lightning fast glance at Pam. I surprised myself. I was really getting observant hanging around with all these supes.

"And Felipe wants us bound in silver to be held by you until his arrival, is that what you're telling us?" Eric asked the flamboyant vampire.

Victor's expression did not falter but even I managed to catch the glance he directed at one of the other vampires in the room, the one next to Lorcan. I thought I knew what that glance meant although I could only guess and it could be completely wrong. Felipe De Castro had no knowledge of what was taking place here and for all his confidence Victor could not rely on him to back him up. I felt immense joy in this thought. Anything that made Victor Madden uncertain or uncomfortable gave me extreme pleasure.

"How is it that ye aye manage tae land me in trouble?" Lorcan asked Eric just then his dark gaze holding something of amusement in them.

"It's hardly my fault this time," Eric replied casually and I just wanted to hit them both for being so relaxed about this situation. I mean, couldn't they take silent pleasure in Victor's discomfort and obvious lack of knowledge like I was doing. After all, they were still flanked by several of Victor's vampire groupies and if they kept acting so ridiculously cheerful they were going to give the game away. They reminded of Jason and Hoyt as young boys, mocking each other and winding other people up except this was a dangerous game.

"Since ye dinnae seem all that inclined tae ask," Lorcan turned his attention back to Victor, "my maker is Vercingetorix Arverni. You'll have heard of him no doubt."

If it had been possible I thought Victor would have just gotten paler. He went very still, the way only a vampire could. His expression was almost careful as though he was seriously considering the implications of what this could mean for him.

I had no idea what the relations were like between Lorcan's maker, Rex and Felipe De Castro or whether they even knew each other. I kind of wished, for one vicious moment that Felipe De Castro would show up because I would take enormous enjoyment in seeing how he would deal with Victor but the wish quickly disappeared. The Vampire King of Nevada might well be pleased at the opportunity to get rid of Eric for access to me. The thought made me shudder which didn't go unnoticed.

"Are you cold, Miss Stackhouse?" Victor asked obviously delighted with the distraction I had unwittingly provided. I wanted to retort with something along the lines of "no, it just repulses me to be this close to you" but when I opened my mouth all that came out was,

"No."

I could feel everyone's eyes on me which was rather embarrassing but Victor had now had the chance to recover his flamboyant façade.

"Congratulations," Victor told Lorcan in a dangerously sweet voice, "on having such a prestigious maker but I am afraid that will not help you. No one knows you are here apart from your wife and I will find her. I'm monitoring the nearby airports and have all the nearby sheriffs on alert. She will surface before she makes it to Britain. Even if she could fly like our dear friend Mr Northman here I doubt your maker and his friends would make it here in time. After all, she doesn't know exactly what has happened. You could have disappeared anywhere."

Victor's self-satisfied smirk really needed to be wiped off his face and if I had been strong enough I would have been delighted to do it.

"Actually she only needs to get as far as Canada," Pam put in startling me slightly. She had been quiet for so long that I had almost forgotten that she was even there. She was leaning forward slightly and her lips were curling back over her fangs. I knew she was feeling the same way I was.

"I doubt she'll make it that far," Victor practically snapped. Apparently, he was starting to feel the pressure.

_Sook, you are going to have a heart attack if you don't calm down, _Phoenix's voice said in my head. _There is no reason to worry. Everything is going to go perfectly. Are you able to tell how many vamps are in the building?_

It was oddly comforting to hear Phoenix in my head, like my conscience telling me right from wrong. I did a quick head sweep. I was glad that my brain was able to register the blankness of a vampire but I was unsure how big Victor's "palace" was. As far as I could tell there were only an extra two outside of this room but I didn't think they were actually inside the building. Probably guards, I thought. Victor would have guards on the gate. I wasn't foolish enough to believe that Victor wouldn't have the place guarded.

I didn't know how to tell this information to Phoenix though. I knew that any movement I made was likely to be monitored by at least one of the vampires in the room if not by Victor Madden himself. I glanced at Phoenix who was watching Victor with the utmost care, tracking every movement as he turned towards the massive fireplace before he settled himself back in his chair, looking as relaxed as he had when we had first arrived.

"So, what to do with you all," Victor's voice bought my attention back to him. "Mr Northman, I will give you credit that your child," his eyes lingered on Pam reluctantly before they switched to me, "and your wife have caused me a great deal of upset. The loss of Bruno and Corinna caused me a lot of trouble."

"Well, you shouldn't have sent them to assassinate them," Eric hissed back ferociously not thinking that this response confirmed that Pam and I had disposed of them. I noticed that Lorcan's eyes had shifted back to me and were regarding me with genuine curiosity.

Victor laughed.

"No, you're right," he agreed to my surprise. "I should definitely have taken care of it myself. Still, I am about to rectify that mistake."

Eric and Lorcan growled simultaneously in a terrifying way that made me shiver again. The looks on their faces were easy to read, the both of them leaning towards Victor ever so slightly as though just waiting for him to try something before they'd shred him into pieces.

"An appropriate response, considering," Victor smirked over their reactions. "So, since you have caused me no end of trouble Mr Northman, I shall kill your child first, your _brother_ second and your wife last."

The vampires that flanked Eric, Lorcan and Pam suddenly came into effect. Two of them held Pam back whilst Eric and Lorcan took up to four each to keep them from leaping onto Victor who was now laughing, in his chair.

"I will kill you last, Mr Northman," Victor said slowly meeting Eric's eye, "but I might draw out the process."

His eyes turned to me and what was in them made me feel like I was standing before him naked. It made me want to turn, to cover myself up with my hands. I felt a faint flush spreading on my face but I held my stance unwilling to cower under that gaze.

"I will admit," Victor said lazily not taking his eyes off me, "that I will enjoy killing your wife. She smells so delicious and I am sure that her blood with be tremendously satisfying."

A furious hiss escaped Eric's lips and Pam echoed him. It was all I could do to stand my ground, to not turn and try to run away. Surely Phoenix could act now. Victor looked like he was about to pounce on me but then his eyes switched to where Phoenix was standing, completely ignoring the fury of the three vampires near him. Eric's anger was extreme.

"The were first, I think," he said flippantly. "She's unimportant but it might cause our dear Miss Stackhouse some distress. Would you like to do the honours, Alena?"

His voice was soft when he said it but I was startled by the appearance of a female vampire that suddenly appeared, eagerly behind Phoenix, practically licking her lips as she looked down at the back of Phoenix's neck. I could fell a scream building but suddenly, a commonplace sound that sounded extremely out of place took up its call. The phone on the side table next to Victor's chair had started ringing.

Victor held his hand up to stop the vampire Alena before he picked up the handset. No doubt he wanted to enjoy the show, I thought feeling sick right through to my bones.

I watched Victor through the phone call. His expression seemed to become more and more delighted with every word the other person said. His eyes were swivelling around all five of us like he had just won the lottery or something equally amazing. This expression did nothing to comfort me, in fact, it did quite the opposite. It must have been something pretty amazing to cause such a delighted reaction in our captor.

I waited, in agonising suspense, as he finished the call and slowly hung up the phone. I watched as his eyes flickered over my face, then Eric's, Pam's before resting on Lorcan's for a moment. I watched the slow, gleeful smile spread up his face before he took his eyes from Lorcan to look at Phoenix. I knew exactly what had made him so happy.

"You almost had me fooled," he said, getting to his feet once more to cross the room to where Phoenix was standing. "It was a brave act that you put on and you," he looked back at Lorcan, "trying to trick me into thinking that your wife was heading to Canada when, in fact, she's right here, in this very room. Very clever."

I was pretty sure I might vomit. The game was up. My mind brought to the forefront Phoenix sitting in Fangtasia with us last night and Heidi watching us curiously from behind the bar. I swore rather crudely in my head thinking about it. We'd been idiots not to think of Heidi telling Victor that a red haired woman with some connection to Eric and Pam had been in Fangtasia last night.

"All along I've been looking for a red haired British vampire," he said softly, his eyes alight in curiosity, drifting over Phoenix's face, "when I should have been looking for a red haired were who has no trouble disguising her accent." I almost breathed a sigh of relief when he called her a were. "Stupid human, their ill sight is an unfortunate problem. I do assume that you have a British accent, of course?"

"Of course I do," Phoenix told him not looking away from his gaze, her normal accent back in place. I glanced over at Lorcan, Eric and Pam who hadn't yet relaxed their offensive positions and I realised that they wanted to be ready for whenever Phoenix decided to begin the offensive.

"Ah," Victor crowed in delight. "How wonderfully convincing you are at the New Orleans accent. I should have realised that you are far too pale to live here."

He turned abruptly from her, focusing his attention back on Eric and Lorcan.

"So I do have the entirety of your merry little band, Mr Northman," he gloated. "You must be disappointed in your wife, Mr Celtman. You expected her to bring help, possibly from your maker, a most impressive and powerful Vampire, but instead she waltzes into my trap with the two vampires and one telepath that I was so desperate to dispose of."

Dispose of? What was I some kind of garbage bag? This thought startled me, surely I was beyond the point of being insulted by whatever terms Victor chose to use but apparently not. Eric's anger was swilling around inside of me, pushing my own temper up. I'd just had about enough of Victor smug self-assured face and I wished that Phoenix could hear my thoughts because right now they were screaming "kill him".

"I am curious though," he turned back to Phoenix. "What was your plan, Lara? Did you think the mighty vampire Eric Northman would somehow be able to free your vampire husband? Or do you turn into something that you thought would terrify me? You look like all you could turn into is a fluffy bunny."

His sneer had me flexing my fists and I expected that Phoenix would look him straight in the eye and say "no, but I turn into this" before setting her body aflame. Victor's reaction to that would be priceless. To my surprise, Phoenix instead hung her head, as though shamed by Victor's words. I glanced, uncertain to Lorcan. All the other vampires were focused on the exchange between Phoenix and Victor and so they didn't catch the wink that Lorcan gave me.

"Well, I think I'll stick with the original plan," Victor said swivelling round to look at the rest of us. "Alena."

He didn't even bother to turn round to watch but I couldn't pull my gaze away from where Alena's fangs descended towards the pale skin of Phoenix's neck. The room seemed to blur before me. I closed my eyes and screamed.

It took me a moment to realise I had stopped screaming because somebody was still screaming, an agonising blood curling scream. My eyes snapped open to the scene before me. The vampire, Alena, was screaming but Phoenix wasn't actually on fire. I could see the blood trickling over her collarbone from where Alena must have pierced her skin with her teeth. Phoenix was staring at Victor who was watching in horror at the vampire behind Phoenix.

My eyes went there too to see the female vamp clutching her throat, screaming in a sort of screech that was hard on the ears. I could see the pale skin of her throat becoming redder and redder. I felt myself leaning away, waiting for some kind of explosion. I wanted to see Victor's face but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the vampire screaming in pain behind Phoenix who was looking completely unperturbed by all the noise the vamp was making.

As I watched flames erupted from the vampire Alena's throat and within seconds the flames had consumed her, turning her to ash. The silence was even more deafening than the screaming that had erupted from the late vampire.

I managed to tear my eyes from the pile of ash on the floor to look at Victor. He was staring, utterly rigid, at the spot where the ash was piled with particles still floating around the air, twirling to the ground. There was moment where all he did was stare and then his eyes flickered up to Phoenix. I watched his eyes take in the trickles of blood on her collarbone like I had before him. He looked over her as though there might be some clue to what had just happened in the way she stood or what she was wearing. It was then that I noticed she was barefoot on the stone floor. Victor seemed to realise it to.

I watched with a sick kind of pleasure as Victor looked startled back towards Eric, Lorcan and Pam as though willing them to explain it. The smiles on my vampires' faces were not pleasant and the word vengeful was an understatement. Their vampire guards hadn't loosened their holds but they too were staring in shock and disbelief at where Phoenix stood.

"What are you?" Victor's lips barely moved when he spoke.

Phoenix's answering smile was twisted viciously, like she was enjoying every nanosecond of his discomfort.

"Well, I'm not a were," she said and then she clicked her fingers.

* * *

_Well, there you go. I hope you enjoyed it._

_As always remember the magic button. If you press it, it make me smile._

_Kerr x._


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